Blackberry and raspberry mead aged in OHD aquavit barrels (partially cryo-concentrated fruit + a portion of caramelized heather honey)

This is MULDER'S DREAM on steroids. In terms of labour, this mead has kept us up all night. Some of the fruit were freeze-concentrated to remove some of its water content and hit you in the face with flavour concentration. The honey portion couldn't be any worse, so to complexify, the wildflower honey got backed up by heather honey that we caramelized. After fermentation, we drove to our friends at Oslo Håndverksdestilleri and picked up their most fragrant, recently emptied, aquavit barrel.

Extremely dense and coating mouthfeel, with a deep, almost on the edge of abrasive, acidity. Fresh and ripe — but tannic — raspberries and blackberries, kept in check by sweet wildflower honey, remindful of a flowering meadow. Followed by lingering flavors of caramel, camphor and light herbal notes from the caramelized heather honey and aquavit barrel.

-------------------------- 2021 --------------------------

Barrel origin: Aquavit barrel (from Oslo Håndverksdestilleri)
Honey variety: Wildflower and caramelized heather honey
Raspberry variety: Glen Ample
Blackberry variety: Loch Ness

*The vintage year shows the harvest year of the ingredients*