NOT AVAILABLE AT STRATH LIQUOR MERCHANTS IN VICTORIA OR ARC LIQUOR IN KELOWNA

On the nose, polished wood suggested opulent sophistication, with a sweet promise of vanilla slice, chocolate oranges, cinder toffee, nutty cornflakes and freeze-dried strawberries. That sweetness was somewhat restrained on the neat palate, but we did find nougat, brandy snaps filled with chantilly cream, puff candy, runny honey and cherry-in-liqueur chocolates.

Water took the nose to another place – beeswax, a carpenter’s workshop, cut hay with plenty of wildflowers and potpourri in a rich lady’s closet. The palate now delivered ice cream, rum fudge, barley sugars, corn candies and jellybeans, with a teasing tingle of nutmeg on the finish.