Tasting Notes
In the shade of the pier a heather honey-glazed lobster sizzled on the barbecue. Fresh mint leaves were sprinkled over a wakame salad as we unpacked pastrami and oily pancetta. Then a wave of tropical juice crashed on to the shore, washing up papayas and pineapples like pebbles in the surf. With some water in the glass, we noticed chocolate limes among the gorse bushes and heather, while the clean seaside aromas of smoked clams and mussels bubbled from a pot of vongole broth. Oranges and guavas had now washed up alongside the pineapples, dotted with leaves of fresh herbs and pistachios. After spending 17 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead this was transferred to a second fill Spanish oak oloroso hogshead for the remainder of its maturation.