Taster

Nose: Full-on woody notes come through at first, opening a wooden chest full of pine cones and damp moss. Earthy. Flapjacks with honey and dark chocolate.

Palate: Heads into an almost savoury side of things, tomatoes and soft goat’s cheese, but then sweetens up swiftly. Heather honey, blueberry compote and red cherry jam.

Finish: The earthy, cedar chest box quality returns to slowly dry out with very aromatic wood.

Comment: It’s like someone locked you in an old pine cupboard with a packet of oat biscuits. Great fun.

Score: 7.3

Taster

Nose: Super funky, a white wine and rum-spiked cheese fondue and crusty wholemeal bread. It settles into dried fruit (raisins, apple pieces) with rum ‘n’ raisin ice cream, and the piney note remains.

Palate: Very sweet, almost saccharine-like, with fresh apple. There’s more green, piney wood notes with some anise and eucalyptus, while the butyric (cheese) creates a waxy texture.

Finish: Sandalwood and spice with cheese fondue and dried apple.

Comment: Unexpected, but that’s what 25 years of maturation in Czech oak does.

Score: 7.4