Taster

Nose: Something cool about this nose; dulce de leche and vanilla ice creams. You could be in a hay barn, with juicy redcurrant and herbal tomato leaf wafting in, while drinking leftover milk from your cornflakes.

Palate: Salted caramel ice cream. Straw nose is greener on the palate, like freshly mown grass. Water amps up the ice cream while dialling back the salt. A light-bodied dram.

Finish: A smattering of white pepper. Lemon rind and wood shavings, before a metallic finish.

Comment: As vanilla as your 99.

Score: 7.5

Taster

Nose: Needs time to open up, and for that slight mustiness to fade. One is rewarded by maple syrup, dried apricots and sultanas, with hazelnuts and walnuts.

Palate: Curious metallic note, flashes of feints and sulphur, something slightly brackish, which dampen some classically expressed dried fruits, redcurrants and raspberry jam.

Finish: Short, slightly bitter – though not through acidity – with residual dried fruits.

Comment: Something curious, as if a crafty cask has bowled it a googly.

Score: 7