Wild Blossom Nau-t-gal / Nau-t-guy

Date: 12/15/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, Cellar Party

pale yellow, viscous layers on the glass that develops legs, hot honey aroma that develops a sweetness as the alcohol fades, big sticky body, rich honey flavor, lots of hot alcohol enhances the sweetness and brings out a fruityness, finishes drier than expected,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: ***/4

Pours a still viscous straw golden with nice legs. Aroma of sweet clover honey with a touch of vanilla and oak. Body starts fairly full and sweet with some bourony oak and warmth toward a semi-sweet finish. Has a lot of butterscotch flavor as well. Could hide its abv a little better, but still a pretty nice, and unique mead.

This is my fourth mead from Wild Blossom, and to date I would say they were merely Okay. In this brew, however, they far surpassed all previous efforts. It pours a thick brownish gold body that had a sparkle to it. The aroma is sweet with honey, bees’ wax, nuts, and an oaken woodiness. It’s not a thick drink, but goes down smoothly. The Bourbon from the barrel aging is absorbed into the drink and doesn’t have an identity of its own. What you have are the sweet flavors of honey mellowed with an earthy woodiness, alcohol, nuts, smoke, and a slight hint of pome fruits. Sweet but not cloyingly so. A very nicely brewed mead.

As a side note, enamored with this honey wine, I suggested blending it with some of the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/bfm-abbaye-de-saint-bon-chien-2004/53642/>2004 Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien that was on hand, and minimally <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=4111>ElGaucho and <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=5777>Frank joined me in doing so. The funky fruit flavors of the ale blended with the mead made for one helluva tasty drink.

<font size=-4>Thanks to <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=18266>RAYBOY01 for bringing this beauty to the <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eventID=4573>12/9/2006 Chicago RateBeerian Gathering.<font size=-1>

16% abv, "Sweet Desire", whiskey barrel version
Bottle had a long stem neck with a fat bulb at the bottom
Sampled from a bottle shared by kmweaver. It was an amazing surprise to see this opened. This is probably the finest looking mead I’ve ever seen, and maybe one of the finest looking drinks ever, even if I like a nice hazy glowing body and a rocky foam head on a beer, there’s something about the way a mead can slowly crawl down the sides of the glass with such structure. Someone said it "has legs" - that works. I was captivated. Initially the nose is sharp and hot, with a bit of a burn to the nostrils, much like ethanol or vodka, but beyond this, especially when aerated for a little bit of time, it opens up with sweet green apples, white grapes, pear skin, and spiced rum. I don’t detect any whiskey, honestly, only the rum and wood scent. Up front it’s sweet but not oversweet, with more white grapes and pears, spicy and prickly all over the tongue. Moderately thick, sticky and resiny. Finishes with a wonderful rum and honey flavor with a spiced sting left in the mouth. I thought at first that the hot nose would ruin it for me, but by the end of the glass I was in love.

Bottle, labeled as 16%. No head (still). Body is medium amber. Aroma is notes of whisky/bourbon, vanilla, honey, butterscotch, alcohol, wood, light notes of plastic, vegetables (sauerkraut-ish). Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic. Finish is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic. Medium to full body, syrupy texture, flat carbonation, moderately to heavily alcoholic. Uncomfortably sweet and not particularly clean, but I can understand why it’s highly rated; it’s big and bold like Jadwiga, so is sure to please the Imperial Stout lover, etc.