Impact
Novices fear this as a chainsaw on the tastebuds. Others, an astringent floor cleaner for tyros accustomed to having their mouths washed out & tongue scoured, then amputated with citronella, by their nanny. In reality, however, this zing is Domori’s Chocotini.
Appearance 4.2 / 5
| Color: | desert orange-crush |
| Surface: | roughed; scarred |
| Temper: | vitreous; electric |
| Snap: | heavy tonnage; finely sanded edge |
Aroma 8.4 / 10
well-defined; almost a duplicate of its 100% parent but sweeter (more grape), softer (wood) & oddly sharper (persistent twang – Domori’s dark alcoholic binge)
Mouthfeel 12.8 / 15
| Texture: | swollen thick then... |
| Melt: | ... smoothly hydro |
Flavor 41.6 / 50
front loads on prune & raisin reduction w/ underlying chocolate baseline -> sweetness quickly darkens over inflection points of coffee &, more importantly, tobacco... of the rustica variety (deepened by aniseed) -> melt progresses wetter & alcoholic from mid-palate on -> tall gin cocktail (cranberry, then green pineapple + a splash unripe mango) offset by pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, & splints of cedar -> fades to sour ala E.B. White’s “elixir of quietude”
Quality 17.6 / 20
As with much of Domori, a lot rests on fermentation (so little done, just like all the other steps in the processing). What’s a volatile chem lab in his Sambirano 100% retrofits into a distillery here – yeasts & acetic acids quenched by sugar.