Lakerfield scored this whisky 88 points 
Bombastic sherried whisky from start to finish, being a little too far on the dry and bitter side when drank neat. Does that influence my score? No. Adding water not only improves it significantly, it is needed to properly enjoy this one for me. That alone is not a bad thing because there's always room to add water to cask strength whiskies, whilst there is no way to add extra strength to 40-43 percent bottles. Rather too strong than too weak right? Not every cask strength whisky can handle water though, but this one does and I've found my sweet spot at an estimated 55%. Flavourwise it's a cracker and I'm happy to have some left.
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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.
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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.
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Medium to long. Dry with almond, bitter dark chocolate and cacao dusting.
