Nose: Promising early burst of peatsmoke and some orange marmalade notes, but not too sweet. Nice, seasoned oaky notes develop, with syrup, then bonfire hints, ash, becoming quite savoury. Tweed notes emerge, but the orangey aromas remain, turning more liqueur-esque. After a few minutes, some totally unexpected exotic fruits reveal themselves - peach liqueur, ripe kiwi, melons, grapefruit squash. The smoke then re-asserts itself, restoring balance and leading into hints of red apples. Give this time in the glass, and you will be rewarded with an extraordinary range of aromas.
Palate: Mediumweight. Dusty oak attack, very old-school. Woodsmoke, wet wool, ginger, gets a bit wet-cardboardy, some hot spices, citric notes, black pepper, grapefruit. Quite subtle and shy, needs to be retained and rolled in the mouth for best effect.
Finish: Shortish, but warm and pleasant. Good balance between wood and spice.
Comment: Palate not quite able to live up to what was an initially ordinary, but eventually fantastic nose. A season or so too long in the wood, but a very enojoyable PE nonetheless. Very easy to drink, but don't even think about adding water, it's delicate enough already.
