Cask No. 16.99

There was plenty of smoke here but not of the peaty variety – as if we were stoking the fire on a steam locomotive, mingled with the distinctive mechanical, oily, dusty and dirty smell of the driver’s cab. Very sooty on the palate, we felt like coal miners after working down the pit, enjoying eating a fudge doughnut held in our blackened hands. Water added the woody smoke of smouldering oak shavings next to sardines in a spicy tomato sauce, olives stuffed with anchovies and crispy fried sage leaves. To taste, we had caramelised brown sugar and cinnamon-grilled pineapple with a creamy chipotle sauce. Following five years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a second fill oloroso hogshead.