At first nosing we found lots of rich dried fruit notes, with a punchy, spicy Spanish oak influence underlying. It further suggested old libraries, old furniture and old boot polish – plus a hint of sesame oil. With water we got aromas of kumquat and pain au chocolat, along with impressions of artichoke liqueur, walnut wine and green chartreuse. The palate at first was dense and rich, delivering molten dark chocolate, plum wine, star anise, beef extract and stock cubes. All topped off with a glug of tonic wine! Reduction brought impressions of coffee grounds, black miso, powerful wood spice and pomegranate molasses. At eight years of age, we combined selected casks from the same distillery. We then returned the single malt into a variety of different casks to develop further. This is one of those casks.