Cask No. 72.129

We combined two seven-year-old ex-bourbon hogsheads from the same distillery into this cask for further maturation and marrying. The result is fascinating – the nose had candied orange peel, marzipan, ginger and leather, but also fragrant wood, putty and church incense smoke. We found smoked ham on the palate, but mainly the rich sweetness of cinder toffee, dark sherry, raisins, dates, chocolate and plum pie. On the reduced nose, treacle, date molasses and dandelion and burdock all competed with walking through a cigar smokeasy. The palate now had sherry, stout and barbecue-sauce sweetness, before a finish of camphor mingled with burning charcoal.