I thought there was more emphasis on dairy cream than alcohol. One girlie threw a curve ball saying she could smell and taste butterscotch. I tried again – and you know, I did too. Merlyn is presented in a dark rich matt bottle with hand drawn calligraphy reflecting its smooth and mellow flavour. The modern style of the bottle and the red strip label signal the premium nature of this brand. Two pals had been convinced this was Baileys and were quite surprised. I thought it had a little note of citrus – where that came from only knows.

Merlyn - Welsh Cream Liqueur – A Welsh Secret

Infused with sun-ripened Marula fruit to enhance the vanilla and caramel flavours, this is matured for two years before it makes it to your liquor cabinet, guaranteeing a deep, rich flavour. One pal, abandoning the wall and now sitting down, said it looked and smelled like gingerbread and was a perfect “Christmassy cream”. If you're a fan of Disaronno and enjoy the creamier things in life, this could be just the crossover content you're after! This Amaretto based cream liqueur has the classic Disaronno notes of almond, vanilla and apricot, plus the decadent addition of toffee and a dairy texture that's tough to resist. A version of this cream liqueur taste test was published in regional Trinity Mirror titles in print and online on November 28, 2015Ugh” said one friend who didn’t like it at all – but her sister declared it was her favourite out of all of the cream liqueurs. It was powerful on the alcohol, but not as much as a Baileys by comparison. One chum said “this is creamy but not too strong” and another … “very smooth to taste”.

Merlyn Welsh Cream Liqueur : The Whisky Exchange

A cream liqueur is a snuggly comfort cushion as the cold winter wind whips around outside. Now its getting cold I asked some of my girlie pals to help me blind-taste 14 cream liqueurs. Once on the SagePay system, all sensitive data is secured using the same internationally recognised 256-bit encryption standards used by, among others, the US Government. The encryption keys are held on state-of-the-art, tamper proof systems in the same family as those used to secure VeriSign's Global Root certificate, making them all but impossible to extract. The data they hold is extremely secure and they are regularly audited by the banks and banking authorities to ensure it remains so. The salted caramel flavours in this delicious Irish cream make an already delicious liqueur even better. The mix of caramel, vanilla, cocoa, and salt make this one luxurious and rich without being overpowering.

I gave my pals the rules – drink lots of water – keep the glasses clean – be honest – write down your scores and your comments. I couldn’t agree more. There wasn’t much to choose from in the scores once we got beyond the top five, but our girlies’ thoughts were oh so varied.

Merlyn Welsh Cream Liqueur | House of Malt

Though I don’t know what one of the girls was doing, as she wrote “the alcohol goes up your nose”. Well – this was the 14th disguised bottle in the taste test line-up. A cheeky chum sneaked in a couple of extra tastes of this (no hiding place when I’m there) and said “I really like this one – it has a very chocolatey flavour”.

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I wrapped all 14 bottles in tin foil and then popped a number on them – don’t worry, by the time it got round to the blind-tasting I’d forgotten which was which. Merlyn is a unique, magical blend of the finest Welsh malted barley spirit and pure fresh dairy cream and has a wonderfully irresistible smooth and mellow flavour. It is bottled at 17% abv. OK, fine, we'll admit it, Bailey's offer the best in Irish cream liqueur. What's more, not only do they have the most unfathomably varied range of flavours (colada, chocolate and orange truffle all sell out fast) but they also offer a completely dairy-free alternative to cream liqueur too! Blending Irish whisky, caramel, and honeycomb, this is a smooth and balanced beverage that is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy.