Nose A wonderfully intense array of sherry notes, but it has a great youthfulness to it, and it offers up huge notes of pear, cantaloupe melon liqueur and apple peel. After a time in the glass rancio notes develop, and it reminds us in many ways of a very good, old cognac, but with considerably more depth. Come back to the nose and you’ll be greeted with mouthwatering suggestions of seaside saltiness.
Palate Very fresh, especially considering its age. Great ‘Farclas notes of calves’ leather and overripe grape, with a big hit of tomato stems (not what we first came up with, but for legal reasons it’ll have to do), and wood varnish.
Finish That mustiness you associate with stonkingly good sherry casked whisky, but it arrives later on in this one, with a surge of leather-bound books on mahogany shelves and touches of pepper and brandy butter.
Overall A superb example of a very old whisky retaining an astonishing level of youth and vibrancy, whilst exhibiting a tremendously complex, utterly distinctive flavour.