In order to be more strict and precise, we can start talking about a number of words used to put in evidence the better or the minor values and which help us to describe its characteristics. In the first place flavour is the complex of the smell-gustative perceptions which allows to estimate a food, in a favorable or in an unfavorable way.

Out of all of the main values of an oil, the most important one is the FLAVOURED aroma: a pleasant flavour which takes you back to the odour and the taste of the fresh fruit, picked in the precise phase of maturation, typical of the extra virgin olive oils.

There are two great categories of oils: FLAVOURED SWEET (it has a pleasant taste, not really sweet but without bitter shadings, usually followed by a light taste of almonds) and FLAVOURED GREEN (a young oil, fresh, lightly herbaceous). They are mainly determined by the kind of procedures used, by the level of maturation of the olives and by the geographic area in which they are cultivated.
Once we have made this distinction, when we will taste the oil we will receive new sensations, pleasant or unpleasant, that in the specific terminology of tasters have precise words for.

The typical and pleasant attributes of a good oil are:

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Bitter

characteristic of an oil obtained with green olives (pleasant if not too intense);

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Green leaf

perceptible when a small quantity of fresh leaves taken from an olive tree has been added to the olives;

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Artichoke

a very fresh and researched aroma, which recalls the taste of a tender raw artichoke, found in fresh oils;

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Alive

typical of a fresh oil which has a pleasant aromatic taste stable with the passing of time;

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Almond flavour

a pleasant flavour which recalls the taste of a fresh almond, not dry;

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Apple

a flavor of the olive oil which takes you back to the scent and freshness of apples;

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Spicy

sensation of a lively teasing taste, found to be like having the taste of fresh herbaceouses;

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Round

a really pleasant flavour, not too much aromatic which remains constant during the tasting;

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Harmonic

the percepton of a perfect balance out of all the sensations found while tasting;

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Gentle

the aromatic perception of a sweet amiable but really light.

While the unpleasant attributes, also considerated to be defects, due to the kind of techniques of picking, of treatment and of conservation used, are:

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Phenic acid

a really sharp acid flavour usual of really old oils, badly conserved;

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Sour

an unpleasant and itchy flavour, similar to the astringent sensation caused by lemons;

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Ice-cream

a soft taste, not really viscous, dry, that recalls wood, typical of the olives which have frozen before being grinded;

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Dry

a woody and dry flavour, without the aroma of the fruit due to poor olives with hardly any pulp;

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Vegetation water

a really dull flavour due to the extended contact of the olives with the waters of decantation and vegetation;

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Wined or vinegary taste

aroma of wine or vinegar present in oils which have had an alcoholic fermentation with the consequent formation of an excessive quantity of acetic acid and ethyl acetate, due to the excessive maturation of the olives or due to the bad conservation of the oil;

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Net

sensation of rubber found in oils produced with olives which have been left for too long on the ground, in contact with the large net used for picking;

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Mould-Humidity

stench of mould found in oils obtained with olives left for too long in humid places;

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Inflammation

sensation of a decomposed fruit due to olives in an advanced state of fermentation since they've been left squashed together;

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"Fiscolo"

unpleasant flavour typical of oils made with olives pressed in "fiscoli" (discs of the press) dirty of old remainings which have already fermented;

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Metallic

sensation of metal typical of oils which have been kept for too long and not in suitable conditions, in contact with metallic surfaces during the process of treatment;

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"Morchiato"

a characteristic of oils left for too long on the impurities of decantation, which also gives life to remainings called "dregs";

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Rancid

an acid flavour common to oils which have suffered an exaggerated contact with the air, light and/or heat;

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Cucumber

A slightly metallic flavour typical of an oil kept for too long in cans;

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Tired/old

an insipid flavour of oils which have lost colour, aroma and the initial flavours for the bad or for the long conservation;

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Soil

an earthy flavour, present in oils that are made with olives that are not well washed;

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Worm

a soft taste, a bit rotten and quite acid, due to olives which have been infested from larves of the oil fly, one of the most dangerous enemies for olives, that infests the plant most commonly in very humid and hot summers.

There is nothing else to do but to try it. Observe, smell and taste our oil and try to explain what you feel with the help of the connoisseur's vocabulary. When you'll discover the harmony and you'll take in consideration the total balance of the single stimulations perceived during the tasting, you will realize and you will become aware of the excellent quality of the extra virgin oil Agrolio: its first-rate flavour, its scent, its colour, its aroma make our oil a unique product without defects.