Tastes
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Appearance: Creamy with a very faint pinkish/brown tinge. Thick legs. Aroma: Nutmeg, fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, a tinge of vanilla and malted milk. Flavour and texture: Creamy and sweet on the arrival with an unmistakable nutmeg and cinnamon flavour. Not unlike spiced milk (but better). The texture is rich and creamy, but not at all cloying or oily. The palate fades fast, and it's very addictive. An interesting liqueur - it's essentially a cross between an herbal and a nut liqueur with a very creamy texture. This derives from the use of tiger-nut meal (think almond milk and you're not too far off). The direct inspiration is horchata. Imagine a glass of refreshing almond and rice milk, slightly thickened and sweetened, laced with a very satisfying mix of baking spices and rum and served ice cold on the rocks. It's a successful pseudo-dairy liqueur which is not only very tasty but also suitable for those with a lactose intolerance! The nut-meal milk texture makes it both thick and satisfying but also crisp and refreshing, without the fatty cloyingness of milk. If you like Bailey's then give this a try - you won't be disappointed and may just convert. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)31.0 AUD per Bottle
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Appearance: Dark reddish amber, almost burnt umber. Against the light it appears quite transparent with no particulate matter. Aroma: A mild and pleasant coffee aroma. Very straightforward, no vanilla or spicy notes. It smells just like a cup of good strong black coffee. Flavour and texture: Pleasant initial flavour, sweet but not cloying or syrupy. A well defined, full coffee presence on the palate which lingers into a medium-long finish. The texture is rounded and silky but not overly sweet. A rather plain character that could be criticized as a little simplistic or generic, but at the same time it is satisfying and enjoyable. Imagine a cup of well brewed strong black coffee with about 3-4 teaspoons of white sugar and a dram of white rum. That pretty much captures it. Nothing in particular to criticize, and the Fair company seems like a good organization that sources its ingredients from fair-trade sources. A pleasant sipper (better than Kahlua, actually, as it's much more like a homemade liqueur) and probably a fine mixer as well. "Above Average" : 81/100 (3 stars)33.0 AUD per Bottle
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Appearance: Walnut brown, almost black, with no cloudiness. Translucent, but very dark. Aroma: A mild but rounded aroma similar to that of a cup of sweet black instant coffee with a drop of rum. Palate and Texture: Very sweet but surprisingly lacking in coffee flavour. There is coffee, of course, but the sweetness and syrupy texture is so prominent it dominates, so you notice coffee more in the aftertaste. The profile is simple and shallow: coffee, but with little nuance. It tastes more like it is based on coffee & chicory essence than crafted from coffee beans. The texture is thick, satiny and either cloying or the best thing about it, depending on your preference. Back in the day there were not very many coffee liqueurs and, along with Tia Maria, Kahlúa was a popular standard. Nowadays, however, these old-school sweet coffee liqueurs have been eclipsed by artisan semi-sweet cold-brew liqueurs (such as Mr Black) that have a significantly greater and more complex coffee presence which makes them superior as both neat liqueurs or cocktail ingredients. "Adequate" : 71/100 (2 stars)35.0 AUD per Bottle
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Eros Limoncello
Fruit Liqueurs — Kalamata, Greece
Reviewed January 7, 2019 (edited January 13, 2019)Appearance: Transparent, with a light yellow tinge. Aroma: Lemon oil, sherbet lemon sweets. Flavour and Texture: The flavour is very simple and one-note, being straight-up lemon oil or lemon essence in a sweet syrup base with neutral alcohol. The texture is relatively thick. Probably the least interesting limoncello I've had. While it's not actually unpleasant it's very generic and seemed like it was constructed in a lab from extracts rather than produced from the masceration of fresh lemon skin. I don't know for a fact that this is how it is made, but it tasted like it. Eros is the brand name in Australia (and probably other English-speaking countries) but this is actually made by the Callicounis Distillery in Kalamata. They produce literally scores of spirits and liqueurs and have been operating since the mid 19th century, however their products have only recently appeared on our shelves. The bottle is small (100ml) and inexpensive, both of which factors I consider as positives. I've not tried any of the other liqueurs in their range, and I'm not in a hurry to do so. If you really, really wanted a limoncello and this was all that the restaurant had you'd drink it, but you'd also whine to everyone about how ordinary it tasted. "Inferior" : 65/100 (1.5 stars)12.0 AUD per Bottle -
Caol Ila Stitchell Reserve (2013 Special Release)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed January 4, 2019 (edited October 28, 2019)Nose: Honey, lemon, green apple, white grapes, heather flowers, sea-mist. Adding water mutes the nose considerably and it takes some resting time to recompose. When it does it produces tropical fruit aromas, sweat and a little light honey. [The dry-glass aroma is lightly floral and vaguely similar to Highland Park]. Palate: A strong, forcefully spicy arrival that is completely unexpected from the nose. Sour apples and bittermelon, lemon zest and slightly overbrewed but weak black tea. Pine resin, pine needles, sawdust. Adding water tames the performance but tends to confuse everything - it creates a meld of flavours that doesn't ever really sort itself out. If adding water, don't add too much. Finish: Medium/long. Spicy, malty and grassy. A faint bitter aftertaste. Let this one rest. Give it time. Give yourself time. This is not a peated Caol Ila and it is not like any other Caol Ila you've ever tasted before (unless you've had an unpeated cask-strength IB). It's very tightly locked up by the high alcohol and it demands water, however it's a finicky malt that blooms when the right amount of water (just a few drops) is added, but collapses into chaos if drowned. This taste is based on a bottle-kill. It's probably difficult to find this malt now except through auctions - personally I won't be bothering to acquire another. Interesting, certainly worth a taste, but neither compelling nor value for money. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)200.0 AUD per Bottle -
Nose: A soft and retiring sort of smoke. Woody, a little resinous, creamy and buttery. There's an aromatic herbal touch about it almost like a very piney gin, and a grassy, earthy sweetness that reminds me of a quiet sunny day in a farmyard. The longer it sits, the more voluptuous it becomes. A very good nose with a micro-hint of the sea. [The dry-glass aroma is a soft floral fragrance - where did that come from?!?] Palate: A faintly sweet and slightly smoky entry. Grassy notes, like the nose, with a trace of oak and peat, but the peat never veers towards plastic. There's a malty character underneath everything and a touch of sweet citrus. A sooty, mineral-like smoke is blown about. Finish: Medium. Sweet smoky notes trail off into an aftertaste of lemon liqueur and tea. There's nothing bold, brash or hurried about this malt - in fact it may even seem unexciting. The younger sibling Caol Ila 12 year old is a vaery goos peated malt and much more forward, but this expression shows the distillery character in its elegant, calm maturity. The peat-reek is gentle and refined and never shows an inkling of plastic or rubbery notes (at least not when neat) and there is overall balance. I could happily sip a glass of this all afternoon. The texture is just slightly to the oily side of neutral, and is (I suspect) the thing that some people may find a foundation fault. This is not a highly textured malt and that may make it seem thin. If you approach this with the expectation that it will have a lean character then you'll probably enjoy it more than if you're expecting an oily peat monster. Don't add any water - it is delightfully balanced when neat and any amount of water upsets that. Water unleashes bitter oils and the only hint of plastic notes that I encountered. If you do add water let the glass sit for at least 30 minutes, with an occasional swirl. Some sugars will develop to balance the initial watered bitterness. "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)200.0 AUD per Bottle
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Nose: Sweet grainy aroma, a faint vanilla note, ethanol. Palate: Sweet initially, then it builds a peppery warmth that lingers on the palate. Finish: Medium. Warm and slightly sweet. Neutral overall with a touch of sweet grain. I very seldom drink vodka but if I'm in the mood for something plain and neutral this works fine and is quite affordable, but if you're looking for a vodka with real character (I assume there is such a thing) then it probably won't please. It's a good mixing vodka (it makes a reasonable vodka martini), and fine as the base for creating lower proof homemade liqueurs, which are the only two reasons I buy it. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)46.0 AUD per Bottle
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Mozart Chocolate Cream Liqueur
Chocolate Liqueurs — Austria
Reviewed December 27, 2018 (edited April 12, 2024)Appearance: Opaque and viscous. The colour of dark drinking chocolate. Aroma: Faint chocolate malted milk. Flavour and Texture: Velvety rich chocolate with a slightly nutty, nougat-like note and the barest hint of alcohol presence. The texture is thick and palate-coating but not milky or creamy (nothing at all like Bailey's). There is a subtle powdery aspect to the texture, exactly like very rich, strong drinking chocolate made from 100% cocoa. A very pleasant chocolate liqueur that is more than anything like a cross between a Ferrero Rocher and a cup of thick Italian drinking chocolate with just a spot of grappa. The aroma is rather distant, but the palate is strong, focused and not too sweet. Hard-core spirit drinkers might dismiss liqueurs like Mozart, but it's hard to imagine anyone tasting this and actively disliking it. It's liqueur ganache in a glass - what's not to like? "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)35.0 AUD per Bottle -
Appearance: Transparent dark amber. Clear - no particulate matter. Aroma: Orange, vanilla, coconut. Flavour and Texture: Orange curacao, vanilla, coconut syrup, milk chocolate, milk coffee. A thick, soft liquid with a slight ethanol grip around the sides of the mouth. Very sweet and lingering. This is an OK liqueur but it suffers from two faults. First, the flavours seem one-note and artificial - I'm sure they have used synthetic flavourings rather than natural products. Second, these flavours swamp the palate and there is virtually no rum character apparent. I'd wager that if you took half a glass of any bottom-shelf dark rum and added a jigger each of the cheapest orange curacao, coconut syrup, vanilla syrup, cacao syrup, and simple syrup you'd be 99% of the way to reproducing this. It's acceptable (in small doses) but not particularly impressive. At the price I certainly wouldn't buy it again, however if you have a sweet tooth and like the sound of the flavour profile you might find this to your taste. "Adequate" : 70/100 (2 stars)68.0 AUD per Bottle
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Villa Massa Limoncello
Fruit Liqueurs — Sorrento, Italy
Reviewed December 27, 2018 (edited August 8, 2022)Appearance: Transparent but slightly cloudy. Chrome yellow. Some particulate suspension. Aroma: Oily sherbet lemon, lemonade, boiled sugar sweets. Flavour and Texture: A thick, sweet liquid with a dense lemon character. You can taste that this is derived exclusively from lemon zest with no artificial additives. It does, however veer towards being simplistic and there is a very faint oily metallic note. Limoncello is very easy to make (I've made it myself) and the BEST limoncello is always home-made, but getting it perfect is hard. It's just lemon peel, macerated in alcohol then sweetened with simple syrup and cut to the desired proof with distilled water (if necessary), but you have to take great care to avoid it developing a bitter, oily aftertaste. This is a classic limoncello, made since 1890, and it's a reasonably good one. Villa Massa use only PGI-certified Sorrento lemons and their process avoids as much of the fruit pith as possible. The result is a liqueur that tastes like pure sweet lemon essence with alcohol. My main criticism is that it lacks a certain freshness, and the taste of lemon oil is a little prominent. There's also very little finish. Nice by itself in a small glass or over ice, with tonic or with soda water. Add a dash to a gin & tonic to add a sweeter lemony note and some body. "Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)40.0 AUD per Bottle
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