ARRAN 24 ans 1996 Bourbon Hogshead Single Cask Conquête

Nose : refined, distinguished. Bursting with ripe fruit (pear, apple) and yet medicinal (ointment), spicy (pepper), vanilla and wonderfully malty (cut hay), the first nose is simply outstanding. Allowed to breathe, it becomes floral (lilac, violet) and increasingly exotic (pineapple tart). At its peak, a beautiful note of chlorophyll is set gently atop a deep minerality.

Appearance : yellow gold.

Palate : elegant, well-rounded. The attack is a carbon copy of the nose, malty, fruity and vanilla. And yet the spice and ointment have given way to flavours of sweet white grapes and milky notes (coconut, almond). The very subtle mid-palate brings soft chocolate (cocoa powder) and roasted (coffee, praline) notes. The very end of the palate is coated in a fine layer of salted butter caramel.

Overall : long, complex. At the start of the finish, cardamom seeds land on the taste buds, bringing a very dignified expression to the flavour palette. Then, refreshed by the candied lemon peel, the end of the finish becomes delicately honeyed (acacia), rich (vanilla) and mentholated. On the retro-nasal olfaction, grains of malted barley cover the sides of the palate. The empty glass is medicinal, slightly camphoric and herbaceous (lucerne).