Goodness - this has been around for a while - not only as a brand but in our house as a bottle. I can't remember the last time anyone quaffed any of this, apart from me half an hour or so ago in preparation of this review. Bit early but what the heck.

Harveys is an established brand and this drink has been available for as long as I can remember. It was a must have drink for two of my aunties who consumed it in quantity every time there was a family do. They could then be left to gabble away by themselves, whilst the remainder of us could concentrate on having a good time. Although it's a drink that is often sipped rather than gulped, it certainly does a good job in loosening the tongues if my two aunts were anything to go by.

Harveys Bristol Cream is manufactured by Harveys of Bristol who were founded in 1796. It is seen as rather an old-fashioned drink, drunk by the older amongst us. I understand it may be enjoying a resurgence amongst the park bench winos in the nicer towns and suburbs.

To me, it is an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire. Maybe I'm not yet in the right demographic, but to me it just doesn't taste nice and makes me twist my face. It's neither a nice wine which can be savoured nor a strong spirit that has a decent taste to it.

The bottle I have contains 75 cls and is 17.5% alcohol by volume - much stronger than a standard wine for example and hardly surprising therefore that it is traditionally served in a smaller glass.

I do like the smell of it and I do like the nice pop that the cork makes when it comes out of the top of the blue bottle. It's one of those corks that is part of the pull-off top so it's easy to both open and re-secure the bottle. Now that I have dusted it off and with only about a third of the bottle remaining, I shall probably seek to use it up as an ingredient in trifle, where in combination with other tastes, I find it rather nice. On its own, it's too strong a taste for me to enjoy.

Asda are currently selling a litre bottle for £8.00 which is very good value against Tesco and Sainsbury's at £10.45 and £10.52 respectively.

It's a perfectly good drink and I understand it to be one of the nicer and more refined sherries, but I just don't like the taste, so can only give it a disappointing 3 stars. Maybe I just don't want to be seen as a sherry drinker?