Scotland-Spain-United States

SPIRIT NOTES

The nose evoked "a tapas bar in Seville", "fruitcake on an old school desk" and "eating candy floss on a merry-go-round". The palate (tapas again) served jamon, black olives and pinchitos morunos de pollo (Spanish chicken skewers), barbecue sauce on ribs and a mixture of blackcurrant jam and cough syrup. The reduced nose had toffee apples, sugared almonds and maple-glazed pecan pie, then hints of pumpernickel bread, honey and eucalyptus. The palate retained some pleasant tannic astringency – tree bark, clove, orange peel and root beer; a real Spanish/US fusion. This was nine years in ex-bourbon wood, then spent the rest of its maturation in a first fill Spanish oak oloroso hogshead.