Frivolous fruit and sumptuous savouries

The nose transitioned from frivolous fruit (glacé cherries, blackcurrants, raspberry ripple) to sumptuous savoury stuff, such as barbecued prawns with marie rose sauce, balsamic glaze and a dusting of pink peppercorns from a wooden mill. Darker fruits adorned the palate – brandy-soaked prunes and damsons; then there unfurled a proclamation of spiced rum, toasted coconut, tobacco strands and demerara, with coffee grounds and tannic oak to finish. Water brought out leather, sweet coconut and beef extract on the nose, with caramel, treacle and pop tarts on the palate. After 11 years in ex-bourbon wood we finished this in a first fill Spanish oak oloroso hogshead.