Apis Póltorak Jadwiga

Brewed by Spółdzielnia Pszczelarska Apis
Style: Mead
Lublin, Poland

Rich copper/ruby in colour, no head, excellent alcohol legs. The aroma is extremely powerful, lots of plums, candied sugar, honey, flowers and alcohol, quite sweet as well. The flavour is very rich, sweet, very plummy, lots of alcohol, berries, maple and honey. Hot sweet mouthfeel, soft body, next to no carbonation. Finishes sweet, very warm, long.

This is just incredable, lots of alcohol but it never became a distraction because of how much else is going on here. Just stunning stuff.

750ml bottle obtained in a trade with TheCheeseMan, thanks Dan.
Opened on January 9, 2008
No date.

Bottle courtesy of a trade with dchmela. Pours a mostly clear clear rose tinted amber with no head. This is a still mead. Very strong aroma of honey with some floral notes. The flavor is simply excellent with sweet honey and just enough raspberry to be noticeable. This mead coats the palate with each mouthfull, but is not cloying or syrup-like. Mild alcohol burn towards the finish does not interfere with the enjoyment of this gem. Superb.

Thanks to Guerde for sharing this rare mead. Amber in color and still. Aroma has honey and some alcohol. Incredible, intense flavor with sweet honey, prune juice, figs, sugar, and just a little alcohol, which is also present in the palate. It reminds me of an ice wine.

Small sampler @ Kallion Poirotti, Helsinki. Deep amber color, no carbonation. Explosive aroma with plenty of alcohol mixed in with honey. Smooth, warming taste dominated by honey, sweet lingering finish. A very interesting mead that would make a great Christmas gift or after dinner treat.

Shared this with my hubby, his 500th. Pours dark amber with no head. Upon smelling and first taste SA Utopias pops into my mind. Very heavy mouth feel and coats the tounge. Sweet honey, plum and heavy alcohol. Very smooth and warming.

Probably should have saved this for a special rating, but I was jonesing to try it. Pours a dark brown sugar honey color, devoid of any head. Rolling around the glass shows off amazing legs. Aroma is thick dark honey, raspberry and raisin. Taste is smooth honey, not cloying at all with a little heat in the aftertaste. So smooth for so much alcohol. Stunningly smooth warmth and worth all of the hype.

No head. Pours amber in color. Aroma of alcohol and dark fruits. Taste reminds me of SA Utopias. Thick on the tongue and leaves a coating. I can taste honey, alcohol, dark fruit like plums and raisins. I figured this would be a good one for the 500th.

(cool looking wicker bottle from gunhaver, thanks Geiger!) This had to be my 400th rating. Pours dark amber and literally coats the entire glass upon swirling. The aroma is just incredible with smells of caramel, raspberries, a lot of sweet honey, and every so often I smelled a scent of chocolate cake. The taste was nothing short of spectacular, with raisin, honey, caramel, and raspberry all mixing together to create one of the best tasting amalgamations that has ever graced my tastebuds. I would love to give the palate a ten on this if I could, as the whole liquid coats the mouth and leaves an amazingly long sweet raspberry finish. This mead is just really thick and viscous. Another amazing thing about the Jadwiga is that the 16% abv is never even noticed in both smell or taste, which is quite an impressive feat by the brewer to pull that off. I liked this drink so much I was hesitant to even finish the rest, but smelled it for an extra ten more minutes before consuming. This could be a dessert on its own, and is definitely in a whole other league when compared to other meads that I’ve sampled.