Four seasons in a dram

A perfect summer fruit salad of strawberries, kiwi, oranges, blueberries and pineapple in a refreshing citrus sauce opened proceedings – developing, over time, into a pick 'n' mix candy jar. On the palate things were much darker, delivering plenty of spice, plums, stewed prunes, maple syrup and star anise, and a finish of black pepper and chocolate with a high cocoa content. After reduction we found chestnuts in a tea chest next to Jamaica cake, pumpernickel bread and orange oil on the nose. To taste, a passion fruit curd tart with lime meringue was accompanied by a clove tea prepared using honey and cinnamon. At 29 years of age, we combined two ex-bourbon barrels from the same distillery into this cask for further maturation and marrying.