Baileys Chocolat Luxe

Appearance: Opaque and thick. Exactly the colour of hot chocolate. Aroma: First there is the familiar smell of Baileys - light Irish whisky with cream and some very mild proprietary flavourings. Then you smell the chocolate. It remains like that all through the glass - Baileys and chocolate, but separate. Flavour and Texture: Sweet and silky on the palate. As with the aroma you first notice the familiar taste of Baileys, then immediately after you taste the smooth dark milk chocolate taste of Guylian praline seashell chocolates - and I mean EXACTLY that specific taste. It's like someone melted one of the chocolates into a glass of regular Baileys. Pleasant, impossible to hate, really. Sure it's not a challenging sort of drink, but that's not the point and you have to judge it by appropriate standards. This sort of creamy liqueur is meant to be cosy, warming, gentle, friendly, luscious and above all - sweet. It succeeds admirably. The only direct comparison I have for this is Mozart chocolate liqueur which Mrs Cascode and I tried earlier this year. We both agreed that while this Bailey's liqueur was just fine, the Mozart was still better. "Mozart is more like Italian drinking chocolate", madame declared - and she's dead right. I also tried adding a wee dram of the rather dreadful "The Dubliner" Irish whiskey I bought today to a small glass of this. I thought it improved both the whiskey and the liqueur in equal measure. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)