Taster

Nose: Chunky Oloroso, some Armagnac-esque aged character. Hints of sultana, incense, dusty oak, heather, wood smoke, walnut and hazelnut along with freshening citrus notes.

Palate: Fresher and more citric. Holds the mature sherry in check. Lightly treacly, with dried fruit, cinnamon, violet tinged incense and wood smoke.

Finish: Good length with grain coming through. A little bittering from the oak.

Comment: You could say it’s a one-dimensional sherry-heavy blend, but it has some lovely maturity.

Score: 8.8

Taster

Nose: Ruby red, this leads to a port-like nose: rich and big with lots of stone fruits, oak and body. It feels like this has a backbone of good malt in it.

Palate: Shows off oak age, with a nice spicy bitterness that works well with a balance of some more stone fruits, red apple and lots of oak flavour.

Finish: Certainly good age on this, a hint of bitterness on the finish but also lots of red fruits.

Comment: I’d guess this is old and I’d have loved to try the constituent parts, even though it works well.

Score: 9