ISLAY FESTIVAL 2020 BOTTLING

A collective 'oooohhhh...' then awed hush from the Panel as we encountered mushroom-accented cough syrup before a big enveloping hug of old school, oxidative sherry. Touches of aged sherry vinegar, bitter chocolate, damp earthen floored dunnage, pipe tobacco, burlap, lamp oil, game meats and Christmas cake. A curtain of luscious rancio drawn across everything. Add water and there's dates, prune juice, sooty chimney dust, beef stock, miso broth, very old balsamic, strawberry laces, pinecones, petrichor, trampled ferns and blackcurrant cordial. Some pickled walnuts and bitter espresso too.

The mouth is divine! Old salty solera wood, bitter herbal essences, cumin powder, rye bread, ginger and nibbling tannins. With water there's mole sauce, robust nuttiness, the salinity of surf-washed pebbles, green walnut wine, herbal medicines, caramelized brown sugars, tarragon and celery salts. Pure, filthily wonderful, old-style sherried perfection!