Starward Dolce 48%ABV 30ml

2.25/5 6th March 2023 (modified from @drrhcmadden on Distiller)

Nose: Deep and sweet with dark fruits initially and drifting into a warmer Spanish hot chocolate and toasty brown sugar. Very gentle cinnamon and nutmeg. All in, this is like a black forrest chocolate gateaux warmed up and poured into a mug.

Palate: Bold and quite astringent. Dark plum, strawberries, cherry coke, bitter dark chocolate, soft marshmallow. Quite a lot going on in here in a big, booming way, but the astringency cuts things off at the knees with every sip.

Finish: Long. But bad long, this is very astringent and with something of a building harshness. The cherry cola and marshmallow hang around but doesn’t do a lot to save the finish.

Interesting. Far from what I expected. Dolce invoked images of sickly sweet after dinner wines, summery brightness, and the colour pink. Instead, drying and tannic, somewhat wintery and moody, and the colour maroon. The nose is whats best, a rich black forest hot chocolate, but everything trends down from there. The astringency gets in the way of the good stuff just as it gets going. Would have been very fun to have the cherry cola and marshmallow build to centre stage, but sadly not.