An enthralling experience

Wow! We imagined flaming a Christmas pudding, honey-roasting pecan nuts and candied strawberries. On the palate, we baked a chocolate raspberry cake with layers of dark chocolate, silky chocolate buttercream and a raspberry filling with a chocolate raspberry ganache. To drink we had a perfect Manhattan of rye whiskey, sweet red vermouth and gentian-herb bitters, garnished with a candied maraschino cocktail cherry. With a drop of water, if you wish, we enjoyed a rice pudding served with a liberal dash of blackcurrant liqueur. To taste it was creamy, like a warm blueberry muffin or a walnut brownie. Following 12 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a first fill Spanish oak oloroso hogshead.