KAVALAN Peaty Cask - 60 ans LMDW

Nose : simultaneously powerful and elegant. Notes of smoke are initially rivalled by other more vanilla-scented and fruity notes (apple, pear). Allowed to breathe, the pungent sweetness of the smoke creates a symbolic frontier between a silky, honey universe on one side and a salty, delicately herbaceous world (artichoke heart) on the other. It develops with harmony into notes of malted barley, spices (clove, nutmeg) and aromatic plants (lime blossom, vervain)._x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_

Palate : with unctuous firmness, the palate is first deliciously honeyed (acacia, heather) before becoming more smoky and earthy (ginger root, dried peat). Whilst remaining both juicy and fresh, the mid-palate invites us to enjoy more candied fruit (peach, pear) and gives us the feeling of biting into a liquorice stick. This invigorating bitterness with its strong personality heralds the arrival of the finish._x000D_ _x000D_

Overall : long, silky. The finish reveals the same intense candied fruit and liquorice stick notes found at the end of the palate. And yet it is joined by a new flavour: dark chocolate. The smoke is temporarily replaced with precious wood (cedar, Cypress) and more earthy notes. The retro-nasal olfaction wavers between heady florals (broom, mimosa), merrain oak, enveloping smoke rings and exotic fruit (banana, pineapple). Saturated with smoke, the empty glass is medicinal (tiger balm) and spicy (clove, pink peppercorn).