This caviar is truly golden and it’s not just because of its price, but also because of the color of the roe — they look like shiny translucent beige pearls. This caviar is produced from the eggs of a female albino sturgeon who matures at the age of 60-100 years (a standard fish of the same type gets mature at the age of 20). This fish is found in the southern part of the Caspian Sea near Iran, and there are very few species left in nature. The taste of this delicacy is tender, oily, and a bit nutty.

It’s not just the taste, but also the texture and smell, that determine the value of caviar. In ideal circumstances, caviar has a sea-like, salty, complex minerality to it that fills up your mouth and even your sense of smell, sometimes with a fleeting nuttiness. And then there’s texture, good caviar has distinct, whole, tiny little orbs that each give a slight popping sensation and have a slightly buttery quality.