Gonzalez Byass Nectar Pedro Ximénez Sherry

Delightful dessert sherry with huge fig overtones - try pouring on ice cream, mince pies or Christmas pudding - just glorious

Love this as a combination with dessert and had this with a restaurant meal as part of a taster menu; I wouldn't suggest this as a standalone and I think that reviews on this basis (IMHO) are incomplete in their assessment. Think of a robust beef or game meal accompanied with a suitable accompaniment, then maybe cheese and biscuits with a different wine, and finally that dessert course. Ximenez fulfils that final dessert course. And well.

I followed the Master of Malt idea for an Old Fashioned cocktail using this sherry instead of brown sugar with a dash of orange bitters (used Buffalo Trace bourbon). OMG what a fabulous concoction! Smells like Christmas pudding in a glass and rates sublime. If you like bourbon you must buy this sherry and try it.

The first thing to say is that this is my first experience with a PX sherry outside of whisky, so take my review with a pinch of salt. I expected something very sweet, but this wasn't quite what I had in mind.

The sherry has a very high viscosity. Think prune juice or undiluted Ribena. It coats the glass as you swirl it and does not run down or form 'legs'. The colour is a little unappealing, being approximately the shade of HP sauce.

The aroma is very nice. Warm, dark dried fruits aplenty. Think prunes, figs and... raisins. Then raisins again. Once you get that raisin connection, it's hard to smell anything else. Do you remember those little cardboard boxes of raisins you took in your lunchbox to school? Imagine if you left a packet of those raisins in your lunchbox all day on the hottest day of the year, then took it out, all hot and sticky, and stuck your nose into it and took a big huff. That is what this smells like.

On the pallet, the mouthfeel is almost overwhelming, but not as much as the sweetness. This is sweet in the extreme. If you got tipsy off this, you'd better have an insulin injection nearby. It is pleasant in small sips.

The flavour, though, is pure raisins. Raisins, raisins and nothing but raisins. That makes sense when you consider that PX sherry is made from sun-dried grapes (ie raisins). This is intensely sweet, thick raisin juice. It's hard to even taste any alcohol. In that sense, it's very one-dimensional and lacks any real complexity or interest. One small glass of this is nice enough but I wouldn't drink more than that! Not sure I'd buy this again.

Perfect

Best sweet sherry i've ever tried. At reasonable price.

I asked for a small sherry at a restaurant a little while ago and this what i got.
I have never tasted anything so lovely.
It just slid down like honey, so smooth. I was oooing and ahhing every time i had a sip.
Am going to buy some right now!

I had no idea that Sherry could taste like this. Sweet and syrupy in a nice way, not cloying. Lots of lovely flavours. Delightful stuff. Kind of like a raisin smoothie with a kick.

An Amazing p.x, very rich, notes of raisins, prunes, dried fruits. Sweet. Wonderful

Delicious! It tastes of figgy pudding and is just a wonderful dessert sherry - especially at Christmas