Having been pleased with their other offerings, I picked up these Espinaler Sardines in Olive Oil to assess just their plain sardines, in olive oil, without any embellishment. I was expecting the same quality.
Initial impression upon opening the can: 4.8/5.
This was another of those stiff cans you really have to take care to keep from making a mess when you open it. You can see in the photo I held on to it so tight that I squeezed the can and it bent inwards.
Pleasant, subtle fish aroma. The 3/5 means there will be 3 to 5 fish per can. I was hoping for five, would settle for four, but got three. As you may have heard, given a choice, I like my pilchards smaller. These were really nice looking, however, almost enough to overlook the size. I didn't see any scales.
The flavor was what I expected. Fresh, mild sardine taste. Good quality olive oil. Nice tender meat. Espinaler, or whoever they source their tinned fish from, knows what they're doing.
These were good, but I think I'll stick to the 10/12 baby sardines from them, even though they only come in spicy olive oil. They do have a baby sardines 16/20, but it's in their premium line, which costs twice as much.
Main Takeaways
- Nice looking can of fish
- Fresh aroma and flavor
- Still tender for their size
Brand: Espinaler
Description: Sardines in Olive Oil
Species: Sardina pilchardus
Country of Origin: Spain
Source: FAO27, Northeast Atlantic
Skin/Bones: Yes/Yes
Net Wt: 4.01 oz.
Price Range: $5-6