Taster

Nose: A bit shy at first, takes a while to come through. Spicy on the nose and gentle fruitiness (peaches, melons, strawberries). Becomes buttery and toffee-like as it airs out. Notes of vanilla fudge and a coffee milkshake.\n

Palate: Butterkist toffee, butter, bread, something a bit herbal and some underlying ash make for a well-rounded palate.\n

Finish: Quite short at the end. Then oozes quite a fake sweetness – like aspartame.\n

Comment: It really sticks to the back of the palate in a cloying way. Not hugely complex, though the palate was, at first, quite interesting.

Score: 7.2

Taster

Nose: Very subtle aromas of old barley husks, straw, orange blossom honey, satsuma, tangerine and lightly creamy oak. This definitely has some years on the clock. Give it some time and the mature notes are quite delightful.\n

Palate: A little watery on the palate. The ghost of barley past swamped by the toffeed oak.\n

Finish: Medium length with some lingering straw-like notes. Pleasant spicy after-\ntaste though! \n

Comment: I don’t think this fell out of the complexity tree at birth, and time and oak hasn’t helped. In saying that, it has a pleasant nose.

Score: 7.5