Artisanal Cheddar

Our favorite premium extra-virgin olive oil from a previous tasting, Columela is composed of a blend of intense Picual, mild Hojiblanca, Ocal, and Arbequina olives. This oil took top honors for its fruity flavor and excellent balance. Tasters praised it as having "big olive aroma, big olive taste" with a "buttery" flavor that is "sweet" and "full," with a "peppery finish." One taster summed it up this way: "It's very green and fresh-like a squeezed olive." Another simply wrote: "Fantastic."

Tasters noted this oil's flavor was "much deeper than the other samples," describing it as "fruity, with a slight peppery finish," "buttery undertones," and a "clean, green taste" that was "aromatic, with a good balance." "It has the flavor that some good EVOOs have," said one admiring taster.

Virtually tied for second place, this oil was deemed "round and buttery," with a "light body" and flavor that was "briny and fruity," "very fine and smooth," and "almost herbal," with "great balance." "Good olive flavor. I could smell it and taste it," approved one taster. In a word, "pleasant."

A clear step down from the top oils, tasters noted "overall mild" flavor and "very little aroma," with only a "hint of green olive" and a "hint of spiciness at the end." In pasta, it was initially "not complex," but gradually "bloomed in your mouth." Overall, it was "worthy of a second bite."

While some tasters found this oil "sweet" and "buttery" with "medium body" and "slight spice at the end," others complained that it had "zero olive flavor" and was "so floral it's almost like eating perfume"; still others noted a "bitter" aftertaste. In pasta, it was "extremely mild" to the point of being "boring."

Comments: The best comments tasters could muster were "mild" and "neutral." Some liked it on pasta (though one called it "Snoozeville"), but complaints were myriad: "metallic," "soapy," "briny," "hints of dirt." Carped one taster, "I can't imagine what is in here, but they have a nerve calling it EVOO."

Comments: While some tasters called this oil "mild" and "smooth," others found it "thin, greasy" and "not very interesting." "I bet the cooking water had more olive flavor," speculated one taster; "could be canola-it is so bland," mused another. A few noted an objectionable aftertaste that was "soapy, chemical" or "menthol-think

While a few tasters liked this "potent" oil, others said they detected "mushroom," "rotten walnuts," "a Band-Aid wrapped in a cherry blossom," and a quality that was "downright medicinal-Triaminic, anyone?" Several deemed it "overpowering" and "musky," with a "rank, off-flavor." "Tastes not like olives but like the armpits of olive laborers," shuddered one.

Italy, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Cyprus, Morocco, and Syria Comments: "Nothing remarkable here-just greasy, no flavor," summarized one taster. "Where did the olive go?" said another. This oil was judged to have a "kind of rancid" aftertaste that was reminiscent of not only "soil," "tree resin," and "ammonia and grass," but even "kitty litter smells" and "a set of sweaty hockey pads."

Although this oil won top place in a previous tasting, because olive oil is an agricultural product, it can differ from year to year. This time, tasters found it "washed out and muted," if "nice, in a totally bland and unremarkable way." Tasted plain, objections ranged from "insipid, with no real complexity" to "tastes like EVOO mixed with vegetable oil."

Origin: Spain, Italy, Greece, and Tunisia Comments: "Boring" and "not very complex," this oil came across as "plastic-y and industrial; some hint of olives, but it fades quickly." Tasters identified off-flavors that were "unpleasant, dirty," "like rubber and metal, with a sour aftertaste," or at least "a bit funky," with a "strange taste" that was "spicy, but in a motor oil kind of way." One simply wrote, "Blech."