Matured for 11 years in total, the first 7 of those in bourbon barrels, before being additionally matured for 4 years in fresh Tawny port barrels. It was released in November 2022, and 8,400 bottles were made available.
Appearance: A lovely deep tobacco orange, almost caramel. A fairly thin swirl mark quickly appears and immediately morphs into numerous thick trails. One of two teardrops are dotted around the inside of the glass too.
Nose: A good punch of the alcohol hits the senses and brings a smile to my face. Straight away there are sweet BBQ mats and smoke. The Campbeltown calling card funk is definitely there now.
Orchard fruits and berries provide a more sugary sweetness and balance the smoke and mats nicely.
Some salinity and a vegetal note appear after a couple of sniffs.
Dank basement musty air aromas are also swirling around in the mix.
Palate: A lovely mouthfeel. Instant pepper spice note, along with caramel popcorn, that salinity and the BBQ smoke.
The palate is a lot more savoury than I was expecting, it’s also a touch drying with some oaky tannic flavours.
The sweetness does arrive after a few sips. Blackberries, vanilla and honey all provide a nice balance to the white pepper (which grows into the prominent flavour quickly).
There is some tobacco on the palate, to match the colour, and a smokey pipe sweetness to accompany the BBQ notes.
Finish: medium in length. Pepper, tobacco pipe smoke, honey and vanilla.
The sweeter elements fade first, leaving the more spicy and smokey notes to linger a bit longer.
Overall: Nowhere close to the Pinot Noir release, in my opinion. It’s a nice drop, but I’m not blown away. It’s a bit too savoury and spicey for my tastes. If it was one or the other then I’d probably like it a lot more, but both are overpowering.
