Wow- Deep, complex and needs time to breathe.
Just incredible what these guys have been able to do with their distillery, from the sherry & bourbon finishes we are seeing, to the obscure port and zinfandel casks they have stunned us with in the past- youve got to love their attempt at innovation.
I wasnt expecting much from this at all, honestly. From the initial nosing when I first got it, it has got a bit of a "weird" solventy-Airfix glue quality to it, of which I am not a fan- reminding me of cheapo jack D... however, what you get underneath that is just unreal.
Nose- pre water: Heavy solvent punch (Which Ive a feeling is the bourbon cask), dark chocolate, Hay, Barrel char, very woody-oak (sounds silly, but it smells like my face is inside a cask- amazing), toasted vanilla, campfire smoke, spice, sweet sherry its associated cask tint, naturally sweet (surprisingly sweet), light fruitiness, dark fruits on the undertone, stone fruit, light- Not your usual Dark heavy mollases note youd usually associate with Mollasses-style rum. white wine, pepper, corn, candy floss, thick blanket of sweetness, toffee, honey, heather, burger sauce (!? part of the solventy-scent), musty
With water: Lifted and opened up incredibly, Banana, heavy caramel, toffee, massive natural vanilla, huge body, tropical fruits, spices, ginger, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, thick and full.
Taste:
Without water: Huge punch of spices, Peppery, toasted oakiness (but not tannin-bitter), bourbon sweet, huge vanilla, smoke, fruity, woody-hit, can really taste the barrells, molasses (but not the dark-heavy molasses we've come to expect), spicy! complex, almond, nutty, orange zest on the tail.
With water: BIG! Opened up, sweet, spicy, black pepper, Sweet wood/oakiness- wow, Smokey, (camp woodfire smoke), corn, tobacco, bourbon, pine, resins and tannins, apricot, honey, heather, punchy, dark fruits, grapes, lingering, raisin, damsons, has mass, can really get the orange on the back end/back of the pallette, banana, nuts, hazel and almond, and just goes on and on, as could I.
Finish: Long, heavy spice in the cheeks and roof of mouth, with a mouth-watering sweetness on the tongue and mid-pallette into mellow caramel and soft fruits, sight bitter tannins, back to a lingering oaky vanilla sweetness.
Finish is still here after 10-15 minutes- Do yourself a favour and give this a try. Only thing preventing this being a 5 Is the solvent-like (burger sauce!? I have no idea why, musty, mustardy type-) scent that keeps popping its head up.
22nd April 2020