A forage into orange

Sophisticated and complex, the nose suggested maple candies, barley sugars and golden syrup, with hints of duck à l’orange (with a cherry on top). We found more orange on the palate – jaffa cakes, orange jelly babies and bitter orange cognac liqueur – with vanilla pod and espresso, while sugar-coated fennel seeds and crystallised ginger spiced up the finish. Wood notes strengthened on the nose with water – wooden hay barns, charcoal, sauna wood and clove. The palate combined candied orange slices and mandarin cheesecake with spiced rum, black pepper, tobacco and San Daniele ham. After 15 years in ex-bourbon wood, this enjoyed further maturation in a first fill heavy char hogshead.