Summing up here a little. THere are 3 styles in this thread about fermenting meads:
The third strategy is to let it go dry, let the yeast drop out, sorbate or pasteurize and backsweeten. This method gives you the most control over the end product.
There is a 4th approach which you might consider a variation of the 3rd. Start fermentation at a reasonable gravity and stop it at the desired level by cold crashing. Then stabilize with sorbate/sulfite. You could also halt fermentation by sterile filtration or pasteurization, but that is more complicated.
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