Virgil's Root Beer Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg

I left the choice of the inaugural beverage up to my children. They chose Virgil's Root Beer.

The only thing I knew about it was the cost: $4.99 at Whole Foods. It better be good.

Imported from Bavaria by Reeds in Los Angeles, Virgil's is boasts all natural ingredients and a full shelf of natural ingredients including anise and licorice which I don't prefer. Those flavors are offset by vanilla, cinnamon, clove, wintergreen, birch, molasses and more.

The drink comes in a 500ml (16.8 ounces, a bit over a pint) swing-top bottle. Nice and reusable for homebrewing. The label features what looks like a couple of youngsters being served by a lumberjack looking man on a white tree stump(?). A couple of boastful marketing phrases and a note on winning an award complete the front label.

I should note that the official name on the label is Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg.

The root beer is made with a nice simple set of fundamental ingredients: carbonated water, unbleached cane sugar, and some caramel coloring to which the large list of flavors are added.

The pour, into a room temperature mug...next time it'll be frosty, but I don't normally freeze my mugs...results in a rather flat looking beer. It is noisy enough. Everyone thought it would have a massive root beer head, but no, nothing.

But this had absolutely no effect on the flavor. The root beer was still actively bubbly in the glass and the mouth. I smelled vanilla first. After that came the traditional root beer smell, but nothing strong.

The taste was everywhere, yet cohesive. The sugar was pure and prominent, and the flavors come through all packed together. The wintergreen (kind of peppermint Lifesaver) lingers on the tongue.

This is very rewarding root beer. The sweetness is not cloying. The flavors are diverse and interesting. And the licorice and anise, while present, are subdued. This isn't Sambuca, after all.

My scores:

Presentation/Appearance - 6/10 Not too impressive in the glass, but points for the swing-top bottle.

Smell/Odor/Aroma - 7/10 Definitely above average. Lots of vanilla made me afraid it would be out of balance.

Taste/Flavor - 9/10 I just can't give a 10 with my first post. I'll reconsider this score at a future date. This is a great root beer, but I need to revisit Thomas Kemper. That is a root beer that I dearly love.

Finish/Satisfaction - 8/10 The fresh wintergreen finish was outstanding. The cane sugar lingers on, too. I was hoping other flavors would assert themselves, though.

Overall - 8.25/10 A great drink.

What a way to start. You cannot go wrong with Virgil's Root Beer.

If you've had this or other Virgil's soft drinks, please let me know in the comments.