Open sesame

In a Victorian garden, the dram's perfume took us from the carnation flower bed to a freshly cut beech hedge, with lemons bursting spontaneously amid a shower of peanuts and sesame seeds. The palate was much like the nose; sesame-forward, followed by the rest, and joined by a splash of spiced plum juice, mace and bitter lemon. Water held the nose in a floral state, nutty and sweet too, like a cool glass of prosecco. The finish was strawberries and raspberries, peach segments splashed with lemon bitters and a topping of funky dark chocolate shavings. After 10 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this to a first fill French oak Jamaican rum barrique for the remainder of its maturation.