Lashings of leather, tar, camphor, burning pinecones and smoked teas – all sloshed down with pickled seawater, brisket burnt ends and root beer syrup mixed with barbecue sauce. Powerful, concentrated and brilliant! With water we got shoe polish, mineral salts and pungent kipper smoke along with a tang of beef extract and smoky bouillon powder.

The neat palate opened with a distinctly gamey and leathery vibe, plus some very salty Dutch liquorice, natural tar extracts, game salami with hot chilli and smoked black teas. Reduction enhanced the leathery aspects and brought aged Belgian lambic ales, pickled tarragon, iodine and a whole box of gravy granules. At the age of seven, we combined two hogsheads from the same distillery into an ex-bodega sherry butt.