High-tea high jinks

Served with a plate of warm scones, our noses soon detected the lashings of clotted cream and strawberry jam. Cinnamon, sultanas and pollen-dusted danish pastries joined too. The palate was a platter of sweet chewing tobacco, treacle toffee and lightly roasted coffee with a splash of rich coconut milk. Water gave both the nose and the palate a Caribbean feel; we stirred white rum with a stick of sugar cane, watching as vanilla pods mingled with raisins, and baking spices cavorted with nectarines. After nine years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this to a first fill American oak oloroso hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.