87 / 100
The appeal here is the tension between sweet, sherry-led fruit and a drier, darker side. Ripe cherries and raisins sit alongside a slight ginger-like spice on the nose, which gives the sweetness a useful counterpoint without taking over. The palate shifts toward cocoa, coffee and dark chocolate, while the finish brings dryness and dark fruit together. That change of emphasis makes this more interesting to me than a straightforwardly sweet sherry style. The spice is only hinted at, so it sounds like a supporting detail rather than the main event.
Reviewed by sunbeamrambler
- Nose
- Sweet-ish sherry, vanilla, ripe cherries and raisins, Hints of slight spice, more ginger-like than European-oak spice
- Palate
- Diluted: dry-fruity sherry, vanilla, cocoa, coffee beans, dark chocolate, sugar-free toffee, grapefruit peel and highly diluted raisin syrup
- Finish
- Medium-long; dryness and dark fruits, with chocolate becoming more pronounced over time