Description
140.6 Wicked, wacky, wondrous!
We had freshly baked, still warm from the oven, tahini beetroot bread with dark cherry jam together with rhubarb crumble and custard. On the palate neat, dry charred oak at first before turning sweeter like hot spicy chilli chocolate flakes on a vanilla caramel pudding with a sweet cigar tobacco finish. A drop of water and we were enjoying an ‘Aufguss experience’ in a brand new Finnish-style sauna pouring water infused with pine needle essential oil over the hot stones. To taste, juicy, fruity orange cake but now with a very pleasant dry wood spice and a hint of leather – very moreish!
18.45 Hola oloroso!
The nose was rich and opulent with oily cured Spanish ham, ginger wine and prunes soaked in cream sherry. Sweet and spicy aromas of ginger wine and cinder toffee continued on the palate where they were joined by red apples, citrus peel and peaches. Creme caramel and coconut introduced creamy textures to compliment walnuts, pain au raisin and soft leather. With water came honey and linseed oil on exotic hardwoods with figs and grapes on black forest gateau. Orange oil and mandarins emerged on the palate with barbecued pineapple, toasted oak, and coconut while dark chocolate and menthol combined with soft wax on the finish. After spending 8 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead this was transferred to a first fill ex-oloroso hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.
4.300 A horned beast
A bright and superbly chiselled nose that initially displayed lemon air freshener, green herbs, bouillon stock, ham hough terrine and English mustard powder heat. Unusually peated and powerful – even for this old Orcadian Viking! Water made it sharper, more bready, yeasty and directly on lemon juice. The palate displayed an immediate wealth of camphor and tarry peat. Chalky notes, beach pebbles, seawater, olive oil and gauze. Reduction brought herbal cough medicines, smoked teas, aniseed liqueur and beach bonfire smoke. Wonderful and evocative whisky. At 9 years of age, we combined selected casks from the same distillery. We then returned the single malt into a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks. Originally from refill bourbon hogsheads, this was further married in a first fill barrel.
