Nose: Apricot yogurt, peach turnover, baked apple with lime zest, vanilla, waxy, Catholic saint candles that were stacked next to the mexican food isle in safeway when I was a kid. I always wondered why they did that but not a fat smiling buddha or the maneki-neko cat statue in the asian food isle. Would you like a side of catholicism with that horchata? And we are talking barrel age horchata here. Wish you could brew that without it going rancid.

Palate: My poor daughter is really struggling with braces. I’m a bit scared from that myself and still remember the taste of the wax I used to try to protect my poor gums from the sharp edges. Sweet and lightly vegetal: spaghetti squash and zucchini blossom. A mild green bell pepper. Herbaceous paired with lime. With slices of crisp pear.

Rating: 5 (Shane) 7 (Ryan) / 10 – A bright and potent nose, paired with a subtle and grassy palate.

Nose: Pool water. Which as a competitive swimmer, isn’t a complaint. Beeswax. Sweet yeast and flour. I’ve never managed to bake those big loaves of fluffy white bread. Mine always has too much heft. Spread a super thin layer of kumquat marmalade and a small pat of butter. The longer it sits, tropical fruits float to the surface, dried mango, yellow peach slices, lychee.

Palate: A dusting of baking spices on a morning pastry. Cinnamon pears. Ridden by cinnamon bears. Waxiness. Kinda makes me want one of those bunuelos from up the mountain. I love the anise ones but julie always goes for the orange. Then the fruit really picks it up a notch. Loquat and kumquat, which are pretty much unrelated despite the linguistic overlap. The palate is sweet yet citric, a somewhat bitter expression of the oak. Keeps it from being too boring.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – waxy and tropical. Yes please. Ryan actually finds the fruit distracting from the core waxiness.