Friary Spiced Mead

This is a metheglin (or spiced mead) from Friary Liqueurs. There is no indication on the bottle as to which spices they are and their website just says “selected spices”, so I guess the mystery is half the fun!

Appearance

The colour is every so slighty darker and more golden than Friary’s traditional mead, which could be down to the spices themselves or an indication the fermentation is subtly different since the end result is 13% ABV instead of the 14% ABV for the traditional.

Nose

The spices lead to a more potent aroma than the pure honey mead version. The alcohol and honey flavours are dominated by a more complex bouquet of scents, but it is tricky to pick out any one spice flavour. There is certainly a suggestion of cloves as that tends to stand out even in small amounts, but I am willing to be corrected if there are no cloves in it at all!

Taste

The initial taste is sweet and spiced all at once, which leads to a very pleasant flavour in the mouth. The spices give it some length as they linger on the tongue after the honey base passes.

I am still convinced there are some clove notes in the middle and the spices are balanced nicely with a not-too-sweet body such that no one taste overpowers the others.

Overall, I really like this one and it’s moreish enough to keep drinking it by itself.