Van Meer's Chocolate Liqueur

Rating: 11/23 N: It says it's an imitation chocolate liqueur, but it doesn't really smell like it. I get a big noseful of milk mixed with milk chocolate, possibly crossed with some Swiss Miss made in 2% milk at double strength. It smells simple, but good. There's no weird alcohol or banana or anything like that going on here. P: Sweet with chocolate and milk. I tastes more like Swiss Miss than I'd expected from the nose as the sweetness is far more intense and a little bit of banana does come out, along with cereal that makes me think kind of of the milk left over from Cocoa Puffs and a bit of fairly neutral alcohol. It isn't bad, but it isn't that nostalgic trip with a slight improvement that I was hoping for so much as one that reminds me why I had bad tastes as a kid. I can't say that I'm enjoying drinking this. It's mainly quite sweet and not all that rich. F: Sugar, cereal, sweetened milk and light chocolate linger. Essentially, Cocoa Puff milk, possibly with a dash of extra mineral showing through. Not a bad finish, but not a very good one either. I'm pretty disappointed. This isn't bad, but I definitely recalled it being better than it actually is. Despite being light with a bit of mineral, the flavor is at least clean, so it's no lower than a 9. Still, I can't imagine going past a 12. I think it's probably a hair closer to the 11 bucket than the 10 bucket, so I'm going with that. There's a substantial gap in quality between this an Godiva Chocolate though.

12: I need to give that Godiva liqueur a shot, but I got this for only $9 and I have to say that it is darned good. It's only on the finish that I taste a drop in richness in favor of sweetness that reminds me is Swiss Miss and makes me suspect that I can find a better product out there. Regardless of price though, this tastes really good. The chocolate flavor tastes a little off, but that could just be some grape from some wine hanging out in here. It's a great mixer and is kind of sippable. It tastes more nesquik as I drink more of it, but that's not terribly bad. The flavors are more discordant than in Sheelin though. This chocolate flavor is pretty good. It reminds me mainly of Swiss Miss, but also a bit of Hershey's and lot Kat's. There's more banana than I would like here and it is quite sweet, but it does taste like chocolate with enough creaminess and a rich hedonistic backing. There are hints of orange, but they enhance the flavor. The fruity element here is actually want makes it a solid liqueur. There's a little bit of a toasted marshmallow flavor too that adds some richness. Still, it is on the sweet side.