Lurgashall - Mead, Special Reserve Mead, Vintage 2005 Options

[borny]

English mead made is West Sussex, matured in oak barrels. Packaged in clear corked bottles with midevil town on the label and peasants drinking.

Appearance, clear/brillant, straw like hue and still. Thick, with nice "legs."

Aroma, sweet honey with a slight hint of oak. The oak complements the honey notes.

Flavor, sweet honey front that coats the tongue, followed by a oak twinge and mild alcohol presence. Slight acidity level leaving a crisp, but strong honey aftertaste.

Overall impression, This is nice dessert mead. Would go nice with berries and chocolate. I prolly wouldn't buy tons of it, but it would make complete finish to a meal.


I give it a 7....

[ScottS]

I tried this mead once. It tasted strongly of sulfites, and oddly, of black pepper. Not worth the money, in my opinion.

I've tried other products from Lurgashall, and they only went downhill from there. I won't buy anything from them anymore.

[borny]

It was my impression that if a wine contains sulfites the label would have to mention that....

[ScottS]

It was my impression that if a wine contains sulfites the label would have to mention that....

Yes, if it is above some low threshold they are required to mention it. However, there is a huge range of concentrations in which sulfites can be used, ranging from undetectable to the tongue all the way to dominating the flavor of the wine. I'm beginning to think that California whites have sulfites as part of the standard flavor profile, and many commercial meads have the same issue.

Did the bottle not say "Contains Sulfites" somewhere?

[borny]

Did the bottle not say "Contains Sulfites" somewhere?

From a brief look, I didn't see it say "Contains Sulfites." I already threw the bottle away and the garbage man came before I had a chance to retrieve it... I guess I don't have a sensitivity to sulfites and wanting to know what you were tasting that you got the sulphur taste. Does it taste like burning matches?

Also, I was doing some research on this mead and apparently they use used whiskey and rum barrels, so the whiskey flavor adds a usual dominate flavor.