Rich dessert, madeira, hazelnut, prunes, raisins and a little skin

Ripe fruits drenched in lemon juice and spices, dark chocolate with raisins and nuts, alcohol sticks out a little

Long, warming, dried fruits, spices, tangerine peel

Open, dry, pronounced woody tints, treated board, wood dust, lemon zest, mineral tones - chalk, plaster, lime; carpentry, some dried fruits, dry herbs, coated tablets, sweet candy motifs, vanilla, shortbread cookies, tobacco.

Powerful, rich, spicy oak notes, strong peppery wave, lemon zest, mineral shades, metallic sourness, Koh-i-Nor pencils, tablet bitterness, dry herbs, tobacco leaf, leather goods.

Spicy, warming, soft oak tones, tobacco, leather goods, lemon peel, dry herbs, lollipop motifs.

Creamy, waxy with sherry. Dried fruit, raisins, cloves, colored peppers and some alcoholic freshness. Lovage, eucalyptus and okra. Insanely multi-layered and complex.

Fresh, sherry, grapes, raisins, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, berry compote, honey, waxy, some orange and lemon balm.

Fresh orange and lemon balm, vanilla, barrel notes, berries, some stone fruit. Finally, some sweet chewing tobacco.

First impression is powerful and bombastic, which is no surprise given the ABV on this one. 60,8% after 23 years in the cask is quite an achievement, must have been a warm corner of the warehouse! Typical Oloroso sherry nose with tangerine, raisin, maraschino cherry, strawberry, ripe banana, coconut and passionfruit leading the way. Further on a big presence of bitter dark chocolate, Nutella, salted caramel, fudge, marzipan, pastry, strawberry yoghurt and orange marmalade. Creamy malt, menthol, vanilla, oak tannin, lavender and cinnamon lead to walnut, pistacchio, hazelnut, soy sauce, truffle butter and toast bread. Somehow I get a hint of limoncello and young ruby port too. Wonderful nose, this has had some good cask influence without being over-sherried. It is a little tannic though, maybe bottled a little too late or just the sherry doing its thing? A splash of water mellows it out, let's blame it on the high ABV for now.

Initially a lot of alcohol heat to the point it numbed and dried my mouth. I normally don't have any problems with these high strength whiskies.. Interesting how different one can react to drams of a similar strength. Anyway, let's go neat and see how it goes. Behind the alcohol, a little different to the nose but still that signature dry Oloroso style with a sweet touch. Cream sherry perhaps? Raisin, orange, apple, grapefruit, cherry, overripe banana, tangerine, cranberry and dried coconut are the fruity components. A bittersweet core is made up of a combo of milk and dark chocolate, caramel, PX sherry, orange marmalade, creme brulee, sultana, baklava and Greek yoghurt. Still there is some malt to discover along with anise, honey, paprika, menthol, salt and pepper. Pistacchio, walnut and hazelnut take a prominent place too with brine, creamy butter, sour milk, plastic and oak tannin to complete the picture. On the palate less fruity and more on the chocolate and nutty spectrum. Seems to translate into the complexity, where I found the nose to be more layered. Adding water added a little more fruit to the party and reduced the bitterness, which was nice. In my opinion it improved the drinkability too.

Medium to long. Dry with almond, bitter dark chocolate and cacao dusting.

Heavy, raisins and nuts ... lots of walnuts ... leathers tobacco ... mushrooms and orange and wax (22.5)
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Sweet, dry, viscous, spicy (22.5)
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Sweet, spicy finish ... menthol, wet skin and cherry lacquer ... furniture polish (22.5)
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