Apis Póltorak Jadwiga

Brewed by Spółdzielnia Pszczelarska Apis
Style: Mead
Lublin, Poland

basket bottle...25 year old aged version...appearance: poured a deep amber-brown with a medium, thick body... aroma: sweet honey with dark fruits. not as strong of a bourbon aroma as the Sweet Desire. in fact, it was very much less evident here..... taste: very sweet, more so than the Desire but very drinkable. has a nice port-like quality to it. liquid has a full body and coats the mouth. you can sense the alcohol but it isn’t overwhelming

Basket bottle. My first mead. I have tried this a couple times under different temperatures to get an overall impression. Pours a whisky color with tremendously thick legs. Aroma is sweet, meaty, alcoholic, and a whole bunch of honey. Smells strong, like a liquor. Taste is sweet, delicious honey. Incredibly thick in the mouth, feels like drinking pure honey. Alcohol hidden very well, though you can feel the warmth but it is not present in the taste. This rocks. It really isn’t comparable to beer so I do not know how to rate it accordingly but whatever. It’s still one of the better things I’ve tasted.

Bottle. [Respect to Sk8viking for sharing this one] This is my first experience with Mead or Mjød, as it original was called in Denmark. No apparent head was visible. Body was clear with a ruby red hue. What hits the nose was quite unexpected with notes of heavy malt. Honey, fruity, toasted, nutty, port wine or fortified wine/dessert wine. Lost of dark fruity notes as raisin, prunes and hints of spices. Full bodied with a sticky and slightly alcoholic texture and a totally flat carbonation. (Are there suppose to be any in Mead?). Flavor is heavy sweet and light alcoholic, not much bitter or burned notes to counter the sweetness. Finish is sweet and average lasting. Incredible encounter, thanks again René!

Basket Bottle via Boboski (thanks!). Pours a crystal clear amber. Nose is honey, port and alcohol. Wow, how to describe the taste...This is so complex i am bewildered. First off, there is some of the most divine raw honey i have ever tasted. And it finishes with a refined honey. And in between there is some vanilla, some sherry, some grapes, some strawberries, some vanilla...but all sooo subtle so as to not get in the way of the incredible honey. Alcohol is well hidden for 16% but is warming in the finish. This is pure bliss in abottle. Wonderful stuff.

Sampled this @ Aofoxxy’s Labor Day gathering ’06. Can’t remember if I have theDm, or Jsquire to thank for this one of two mead samples, but kudos to the responsible party just the same. Floral nose of much caramel & maple syrup, some alcohol, almost portish. Pours a slightly reddish copper, mostly amber with no head. The hugely sweet flavor is overpowering; in my notes I wrote "obscene like maple syrup, holy shit". The full body is cloying and flat.

Bottle. Thanks to Sk8viking. Dark red color with a white none head. Aroma is heavy honey, fruit, berries, raisins, spices and alcohol (like a sherry or port). Taste is heavy sweet with a long duration. Body is full, texture is syrupy, carbonation is flat, finish feel is moderate alcoholic. Lovely nice and complex.

Had this at The Hop Leaf. Pours clear brown (dark honey) with no head; it is rather syrupy in viscosity. Aroma is average malt (toffee), light hops (flowers), light yeast (dough) with notes of port and honey. Full bodied, oily texture, flat carbonation and a smooth, alcohol finish. Average duration, heavy sweetness, moderate acidity and light bitterness.

My first mead experience. Deep amber color, clear. Complex aroma very similar to port, with butterscotch, flowers, berries. The taste is primarily honey, extremely sweet with hint of metallic in the finish. Even before I read the description I picked out the rose flavor. Alcohol is almost imperceptible. I think by its nature it would be difficult to drink more than a few ounces at a time, and it produced massive cravings for water. With that, and having tried no other meads to date, I would say that it’s hard to imagine much better than this from a mead. (Bottle purchased at Julio’s).