HELLYERS ROAD 18 ans 2004 Peated Single cask Antipodes

Nose : Fine, subtle. Notes of shellfish, fleur de sel and iodine wonderfully highlight the marine character of the first nose. Allowed to breathe, a well-sculpted peat enters the stage. With it come supremely delicate floral fragrances (lily, hyacinth, carnation, peony, rose petal) that fill the air. The deliciously vanilla and lemony aroma palette makes unmistakable parallels with a great Islay malt.

Appearance : jaune doré

Palate : Ethereal, nuanced. The very delicately peated and medicinal (iodine tincture) attack is mentholated and nobly spicy (cardamom, pink peppercorn). The slender mid-palate is in turn ashy, fruity (pineapple, banana, pear), herbaceous (lucerne, clover), salty and iodine. Although the peat remains very present, it allows a full<br>expression of the other flavours. At the end of the palate, citrus fruits (lemon, grapefruit) release their tangy juices across the taste buds.

Overall : Long, stately. Overflowing with mineral salts, the start of the finish returns to the shellfish notes from the first nose. Creating a strong seaside sensation (sea spray, kelp), it is also rocky, floral (broom, mimosa) and herbaceous (samphire, sea aster). On the retronasal olfaction, sublime scents of a smoking Havana cigar appear alongside wonderfully sophisticated honeyed notes (lime blossom, heather). The empty glass is intensely spicy (ginger), milky (coconut) and smoothly peated.