Hawksmead: Sleipnir
Made with raw honey and treacle, this is a very dark mead from The Lancashire Mead Company. This mead from their “Hawksmead” range is named Sleipnir after Odin’s war horse (and Loki’s son — now that’s a story!)
From their own website:
From Loki we have therefore created 'son' of Loki. Tasting like treacle toffee, this is a sweet, dark mead against the savoury of Loki. Cleverly disguising it's 17% abv, it deposits a delicious and delectable hint of treacle toffee on the palate, that leaves you wanting more!
Sleipnir, the son of Loki. Loki was a shape-shifter and appeared as a stallion and bred with a mare. The result was Sleipnir, an eight legged horse. Such was the speed that Sleipnir could travel that Odin, the All-father, took him as his war horse.
A lot of homebrewers like to use maple syrup, molasses or treacle instead of honey. When maple syrup is fermented alone, it is known as Acerglyn. In this case, however, the ingredients seem to be a mix of raw honey and treacle, so I suppose this is still technically a mead.
Appearance
The colour is what you’d expect from something containing treacle. It is dark with honey colours only highlighting the meniscus of the liquid. At 17% ABV, the legs are quite noticeable if you swirl the glass around.
Nose
The aroma is almost exactly that of treacle toffee. There is little in terms of an overpowering alcohol scent at all.
Taste
Clearly, treacle toffee is a perfect flavour if you are looking to hide the alcohol in a drink. The first sip is a bold taste of liquid treacle toffee with a substantial mouth feel approaching that of a single cream (or at least whole milk). There is a small amount of heat from the alcohol in the finish only. The toffee notes hang on into the aftertaste for a very pleasing finish indeed.