Mellow fellow

After six years in ex-bourbon wood, further maturation in this second fill American oak PX hogshead has delivered a nose laden with buttery croissants and fruit custard tarts – apricot, grape, cherries and orange – plus hints of hazelnut, chilli and lime. The palate was substantial, sweet and fruity: figs, dates and brown sugar, tinned mandarins, and dried pineapple and papaya. It finished with scattered impressions of cocoa, white pepper and ginger. The reduced nose was still a bakery cakery odyssey, but with subtle insinuations of oak, liquorice and sweet moscatel wine. The palate’s fruity foundation and marshmallow mellowness now started to include mouth-drying cinnamon serenity too.