One of several new bottled offerings by Oud Beersel under the “Sparkling Infused” moniker, basically refermented versions of the unusually flavoured lambics they have been producing in the past few years – and considering how many of those have been made (and sold per bag-in-box), I have a suspicion that there are countless of these bottled, back-blended “Sparkling Infused” versions to follow as well. This is the jasmine-flavoured one, shared with my girlfriend in her garden on a benign spring afternoon. Some slow gushing, but nothing dramatic. Very thick and pillowy, eggshell-white, very moussy, slowly dissipating head, hazy peach blonde robe with warm orange glow. Aroma of strong sweet-perfumey jasmine at first but quickly receding, initially making room for notes of bitter garden weeds, unripe plum, old leather, jute, dried wormwood, old lemon zest, musty barnyard, ‘Bretty’ sweat and grapefruit, and then returning in the form of odd but alluring impressions of melon, matcha tea, green peas and bergamot. Tart and crisp onset, estery with elements of green apple, redcurrant, small sour plums and a touch of lemon but also harbouring something very faintly sweet within (mandarin, green melon); fizzy carbonation, soft bready core under strong lactic dryness, very dry but still remaining colourful and fruity, with the jasmine blossom adding this frivolous green tea-like herbal aspect as well as an elegant floweriness, even a touch of extra citrus. Ends with strong woody tannins amplifying the dryness, a late earthy hop bitter moment and, importantly, ongoing tart yellow-green fruitiness, souring but in a very refreshing way. Complex lambic with lots of contrasting aromas, which takes a while to get used to; once you do, however, it becomes clear that this is yet another cleverly crafted specialty lambic from one its most skilled practitioners. The flavours go back and forth between dry, earthy and musty on the one hand and citrusy, flowery and delicately herbal on the other hand, and the whole has notably gained more depth from the back-blending and refermenting treatment than the ‘plain’ jasmine lambic – as can be expected. Wonderful, and very motivating to keep following this new embodiment of Oud Beersel’s vastly different flavoured lambic experiments. Excellent as a ‘spring lambic’, too!