Nose - Soft, inviting, dry, and autumnal. Sweet, stewed fruits (apricot preserve), ripe autumn apples, and rich berry fruits. Soon, roasted nuts; hazelnut, walnut. Wood Scented too; dry tea-leaves, fresh-cut pine resin. The fruits soften, revealing rich vanilla and toffee over chocolate and caramel. This smoothness is finely balanced by subtle cereal; neither overpowering nor cloying. A little water restores the appetising fruit: blackberries, pears in syrup. Vanilla and polished wood too.
Palate - Firm to full. Again dry and sweet, gently dominated by nuts, dark toffee, and gentle mint, before the fruits return as rhubarb and apple juice. Becomes deep and mouth-coating; a hint of almond biscuit, then woody, light spiciness. Late dryness with a rich, silky cocoa bitterness, growing spicy. The fruits darken and run sweetly below. Water cools things; softer and less rich now, dominated by the sweet fruit. Very subtle mint and liquorice toffee notes.
Finish - Sweetness softly introduces a longer, drying oakiness. Stewed-fruit freshness. Wood-smoke spiced with faint black pepper.
