03/10/2023 Franzi

Franzi b.2023 (15%, Nork, L15723): a croissant liqueur, no less. Or a cream liqueur, as is also written on the label. Note that the lass on said label sports Princess-Leia buns shaped like croissants. Lolle. I got this as a freebie in an order from Deutschlandia, where this was made. Kurios. Just pouring it, one can tell it will be different from our usual: it is thick as a crème pâtissière, so high on the curdometer that one may well turn diabetic just looking at it. Wish me luck! Nose: eggy as fook, with a dash of lemon juice. This is lemon curd indeed. It also has a considerable amount of unsalted farm butter, creamy and greasy, as well as a generous shovelful of sugar. Still, egg white seems to dominate easily. The second nose sees a deluge of egg white, and it is a bit much really. A little too egg-centric for a whisky enthusiast. It flirts with stale strawberry milkshake, at one point. Mouth: fairly pleasant on the tongue, it is now closer to meringue in the making (not solidified yet), melted butter, margarine, and lukewarm egg white. It very much tastes like a dessert topping (cue: custard), but it is far from sickly: the alcohol, with its mere 15%, is virtually absent, which makes this easier to quaff than, say, Bols' Advocaat, Bailey's, and even Arran Gold -- to me, at least. A nuance of melted milk chocolate in the background too. The second sip is full-on crème pâtissière, veering towards pouring custard. Finish: creamy and three quarters, of course. It is less eggy, now, thank Cthulhu, more cream than curd. If there is butter, it is so fresh and light we may as well call it cream. The mouth is entirely coated in a cream that has been augmented with vanilla sugar. In a way, it is akin to sipping melted vanilla ice cream, or lukewarm milkshake. Once again, one would be hard pressed to find any alcohol in this who is not a six-year-old who has never tasted some. I had low expectations of this, and they were met. It is actually alright, but the nose stops it reaching middle score. To be poured onto ice cream. 4/10 (Thanks for the sample, Dein Whisky)