Dragonsbreath: Baldur

This is a dry style offered by The Lancashire Mead Company from their “Dragonsbreath Artisan Mead” range. Wildflower Honey is used more sparingly to leave less sugar behind at the end of the fermentation. This produces a dry mead ideal for those who find some other meads overly sweet.

From their own website:

This is the first ferment from our very own yeast strain and shows the delicate intricacies of the honey it was derived from, giving this mead a very busy flavour, yet pleasant, sensation.

A dry mead is an interesting experience as the dryness is arguably bringing out the fundamental, base qualities of the original honey. A sweet honey is always going to appeal with its high sugar content, but there is a quality to honey that distinguishes it from pure sugar — it is that quality we experience in concentrated form when we ferment (almost) all the sugar away.

This mead appears to be pure honey with nothing else added, which is quite simple for a meadery that has a wide range of interesting ingredients (orange, tea, molasses, Treacle — see others by The Lancashire Mead Company.

Appearance

The colour is a deep honey colour — somewhere between yellow and orange. A lot of meads come out much lighter than this. A medium-dark appearance hints at a deeper flavour, perhaps.

Nose

The aroma is remarkably floral, with slight medicinal qualities on first opening. A bit of air mellows out any mild astringency however.

Taste

The taste is definitely dry as promised by the label. There is a medium body of wildflower flavour on the initial sip and it leads into a very long, dry finish that lingers for some time.