Taster

Nose: Cherry bakewell cakes, fondant icing, cocktail cherries and jam. Oak holds it own, fresh toasted oak and leather car seats.

Palate: Huge sweetness, all that cherry pie rich and sweetness, apples in syrup, vanilla pods. Good oak grip and a gentle slowly growing spice layer.

Finish: Mouth-puckering spices dry with black cherry menthol.

Comment: Like opening the door of a freshly valeted car in the summer heat, inviting and comforting.

Score: 9.2

Taster

Nose: Pencil shavings, big toasty oak notes, black cherries and over-ripe plums and then dusty old bookshops.

Palate: Purple fruits and orange sherbet. Red vermouth, black cherries, blackcurrant jam and freshly split vanilla pods, pickled walnuts, lemon drops and parma violet sweets as well.

Finish: Floral: violets and rosewater with long clove spice.

Comment: Stunning. Like sipping a finely made Manhattan in an old bookshop.

Score: 9.5