Pavan

Appearance: Pale straw Aroma: Intense, and I mean REALLY intense, sweet grape. Like the smell of sauternes or noble Riesling but so concentrated it smells like imitation grape-flavoured sweets. Side notes of frangipani and honeysuckle. Taste and Texture: Very sweet arrival of grape-flavoured confectionery, followed by a spritzy, light acidic tang that is reminiscent of lemon sherbet. This is in turn replaced by a mellow sweet white wine note that lingers into the aftertaste. The texture is full like a dessert wine. Pavan has been around for a while now but we only recently purchased a bottle when we were re-stocking the cocktail cabinet for the coming summer (I think it's going to be particularly torrid this year and we anticipate many cooling spritzes!). The first time you nose it the aroma seems almost comically sweet and grapey, and it reminded me strongly of grape popping candy. However this is a purely natural product, essentially a mistelle with added orange blossom essence, and it quickly becomes very attractive. It’s a little like an ice-wine in profile but with more presence. It is a great ingredient to add as a seasoning to almost any cocktail that can take fruity, citric flavours and you could use it in place of St Germain in many situations for a slightly different spin. We used it in Hugo cocktails last weekend and it was a delicious variation. It is also enjoyable neat and chilled but you need to love sweet flavours. It’s not thick or sugary, in fact it's quite delicate, but it is very sweet – again, think dessert wine. Mrs Cascode has adopted this as her new favourite liqueur. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)