Bovril Beef Stock Cubes 12 x 10 g

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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Bovril’s “meat squeezing” method may have gotten some of the actual muscle fiber into the extract, but this would have made little difference.

Liquorice, tobacco, dried figs, caraway, pumpernickel… Finish: long, rich, with really a lot of proper gingerbread. Johnston took the -vril suffix from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's then-popular novel, The Coming Race (1871), the plot of which revolves around a superior race of people, the Vril-ya, who derive their powers from an electromagnetic substance named "Vril". Many candied citrus fruits, caramelised beer, zests, pumpernickel, bread pudding… The rubber never goes away, but it just got buried under those lovely citrusy flavours. In 2006, Unilever reversed that decision and reintroduced beef ingredients to their Bovril formula once sales increased and the beef export bans were lifted. So since they’ve opened Pandora’s box, better get ready for some Coca-Cola wood, or there, Minute-Maid whisky.Nose: as much chalk and copper as possible, then fresh asparagus, leaves and branches, then this very peculiar kind of sulphur that’s also to be found in Mortlach (from the distillate, not from the casks), and then the same artichokes as in the 15. In 1912, two hundred women went on strike at the R White factory at Waltham Cross, protesting over the reinstatement of an unpopular supervisor.

What I realise though, is that we’re also very close to the craziest mezcals, like true unreduced pechugas. Mouth (neat): exceptional, rich and yet refreshing, with touches of Turkish delights and litchis at first, then olives and tar, then engine oil and liquorice. It was mostly buried underneath what had once been a chalk barge bed and it took some while to gently ease it out of the chalk and mud with my trusty trowel. Copper coins, touches of angelica, perhaps a little rhubarb wine… Mouth (neat): yeah, exactly, sweet malt, vanilla, marshmallows, butterscotch, sunflower oil and baked apples.

A little chocolate too, Weetabix, caramel sauce, light honey, maple syrup… Mouth (neat): yeah, good columny rum from some pretty active wood, ridden with vanilla, orange liqueur, soft spices (cinnamon rolls), and a grassy kind of caramel. That’s the thing, you could never achieve proper terroirness with molasses, you need pure fresh cane juice. Better than even put into meat or soya mince Bovril makes a lovely hot drink when you are or have been ill and need strength building back up again.