Maker: B. Nektar, Ferndale, Michigan, USA
Style: Imperial Apple Mead with cherries added and finished in rye whiskey barrels.
Purchased for:$14/500 ml
ABV: 12%
Appearance: Gold with a reddish tinge.
Nose: Spicy and fruity. Caramel apples, marachino cherries, a bit of curry.
On the palate: Medium bodied and fizzy. More caramel apple but with a little oak, butterscotch and cherries jubilee.
Finish: Semi-sweet and quick fading. A slightly tannic flavor lingers in the mouth though.
Parting words: I’m sick to death of zombies. I never found them all that interesting or scary in the first place but now that they’re everywhere I find them irritating too. What does that have to do with this review? Nothing, I just needed to say it.
The Zombie Killer Cyser with cherry added was one of the first of these 500 ml, horror themed meads from B. Nektar that I enjoyed. Zombies Take Manhattan is a higher ABV, barrel finished version of that product. I’m not sure where the “Manhattan” element in the name comes from and I’m too lazy to do any research on it right now, but I suspect it may be finished in Tuthilltown Manhattan Rye barrels.
As you can see from the “style” category above, they did a hell of a lot of stuff to this zombie. It pays off. It has all the good things barrel aging a mead or beer can bring, but without some of the weird, bitter flavors that sometimes plague barrel finished meads.
The price is high, but you get half a liter and it’s higher ABV so it’s all good. This is an excellent product. Zombies Take Manhattan is recommended.
Sipology 