It is very easy to identify a premium olive oil: When you smell it, you will have an overwhelming olive fruit aroma. When you taste the oil the back-center portion of your tongue will now look for bitterness (determined by ripeness and variety of olive), a positive characteristic even if it sounds anything but. Finally, the oil goes down into your throat where you judge its pungency. If it’s particularly sharp, you might cough, but the peppery bite is proof of fresh oil with healthy olives well-processed.

All these sensations will diminish with time, so, for example, if an oil is too ‘peppery’ for you now, wait a month (even, or especially, with an unopened bottle) and it may very well have mellowed.