| Rich Howard | the nose starts immediately on a gentle smokiness, then some lemon citrus/lemon rind, and vague maritime notes of seaweed, even a little sea salt. with time, creamy vanilla notes start to work their way through, making for kind of a "lemon icing" tail on the nose. the palate is fairly brisk, smoky and salty, followed by some of those fresh lemon-y notes, and very spicy and peppery on the finish, with lingering salt. quite a sting in the nostrils after a drop of water; need to give it a minute. after that, the vegetal (seaweed) and herbal notes take center stage, with some lingering lemon icing. the palate is sweeter on the lemon icing, still a few grains of salt, and still quite peppery on the finish. summary: a salt and pepper dram with moderate peat smoke and some lemon icing. [tasted blind for the 2011 Awards] |
