Peerless Straight Rye Small Batch 3yr 750ml

Colour: polished mahogany.

On the nose: cranberries, walnuts, cherries with toasted almonds. Vanilla sponge in golden syrup. A waft of fennel. That toastiness becomes more pronounced with time. Orange zest. Maple syrup. Sandalwood, slight touch of coconut. Fry’s Turkish Delight. Then it becomes quite perfumed, with old roses, jasmine even.

In the mouth: impressive right from the off: a wide spectrum of flavours, diversity, balance, which is where maximum pleasure lies: sweet and sour notes spar off each other. Glacé cherries, quite a grain-forward sourness. Manuka honey. Vanilla, but not an all-out assault; dried apricots, stem ginger, golden syrup. But a slight acidity, green tea, grapefruit, that cuts through.