Karuizawa 31 Year Old Sapphire Geisha

Billy Abbott, The Whisky Exchange

• Nose

  Thick chocolate sauce and leather, with seaweedy umami, rich riverbank loam and singed raisins. Sweeter and lighter notes of minty dark chocolate and glacé cherries develop in the glass along with hints of menthol and blackcurrant. Mint fondant wrapped in chocolate builds before fading slowly to reveal old damp oak boards, polished oak tables and rich forest-floor earthiness.

• Palate

  A burst of dark brown sugar sweetness is balanced by deep earth and oak savouriness before mint and menthol burst through the middle. Bittersweet chocolate and dried cherries sit alongside cigar-box cedar and damp tree bark. Intense dried-fruit notes build: rich dates and prunes with sweet raisins and sultanas. Lighter fruit emerges, with dried pineapple and baked apples heavily dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar.

• Finish

  Aromatic incense, cedar and polished oak provide a base for cherries, mixed berries, mint chocolate chips and chocolate-covered Seville oranges. The fruit fades away to leave bittersweet molasses and fragrant bark.