Nose: Pink lemonade with a large helping of pulp and fresh crushed mint. Brown sugar simple syrup. Seriously, sounds like a cocktail recipe. Hint of maracino cherry. Or cranberry sauce (with orange and cinnamon and nutmeg) on white meat turkey. Watermelon jolly rancher. This just smells like those pate de fruit candies I used to get in french patisserie.

Palate: Such an explosion of citrus sweets. Damn I loved getting a box of Lemonheads at the movie theater as a kid. Orange peels and rose water. I still remember 10 years later a pink peppercorn grapefruit lollypop from a street vendor at the santa cruz boardwalk. I looked for that vendor for years afterwards and never saw them again, but can’t shake the memory. Touch of cabinet spices, but not oak, just the brightness and warmth.

Rating: 8 / 10 – it’s the slightest hint hot, but it’s so, so good. I would consider this perhaps one of the most approachable, cocktail in a glass brandy I’ve ever had. I’ve gone back and forth between 8 and 9 multiple times, but frankly I’m already scheming how to get a 6 pack, so there you have it. That said, I’ve tried it with friends and my take is far from universal. Sascha thinks I’m nuts. But then Vellier went and bottled some, so I’m not alone in my opinion. Take that Sascha. =p