The nose evoked a beach barbecue, serving grilled pineapple, duck, venison and seared tuna with a soy glaze. The palate’s massive flavours included coal tar, ginger beer, smoked prunes, brine and chimney scrapings – but also pain aux raisins, heather honey and panettone bread and butter pudding.

The reduced nose suggested dandelion and burdock, raisins macerated in birch tar liqueur, aubergine fritters and seaweed on lobster. The palate had crab and wakame salad with lemon thyme dressing, then black pepper and eucalyptus to finish. At 9 years of age, we combined two ex-bourbon hogsheads from the same distillery into a 1st fill European oak Pedro Ximenez butt for further maturation.