The seven ages

The nose veered between sweet shops (cola cubes, rainbow drops and chocolate) and pâtisseries (cinnamon swirl, pain au raisin and raspberry tart). The palate majored on tropical fruits (pineapple, mango, peach, passion fruit) but with a late-onset hit of liquorice, mulled wine, "biting a cigar dipped in treacle" and a dry, cheek-tightening finish. The reduced nose became woodier, revealing oak, pine needles and orange boxes. The palate now balanced the sweet notes of orange jelly babies and pan dei morti with more tannic aspects of almond, yeast extract, beef jerky and oak. This spent six years in ex-bourbon wood before extra time in a first-fill, PX, ex-bodega barrique.