NEW GROVE 2012 Single Cask French Connections

TASTING NOTE
Appearance : orangey copper with glints of green.
Nose : refined, smooth. A combination of chocolate and bitter orange, the first nose also reveals notes of heady florals (hyacinth, carnation) and warm cane sugar. Allowed to breathe, it becomes beautifully exotic (mango, banana, guava) and spicy (black pepper, cinnamon). With time, apricot coulis, quince jelly and liquorice stick bring lots of nobility to the aromatic palette.
Palate : clear, lively. Very unlike the nose, the attack is at first medicinal (ointment, mustard grain), camphoric and hot (Espelette pepper). Fruit then arrives (mango, guava, flambéed banana, apricot, orange). The mid-palate wavers between spices (clove, nutmeg, star anise), bourbon vanilla and precious wood (beeswax, varnish). At the end of the palate, nuts (walnut, almond, chestnut) provide a very fitting reply to mentholated, oily and liquorice (zan liquorice sweets) flavours.
Overall : long, smooth. At the start of the finish, rose petal and geranium flower cover the flavour palette in a heady mantle. Continuing on, numerous fruits (banana, mango, orange), and also juicy apples and pears, refresh the end of the finish. On the retro-nasal olfaction, burnt wood, candied apricot and heather honey accentuate the empyreumatic character of this New Grove. The empty glass is roasted (coffee, tobacco), liquorice, vegetal (oak, dried leaf) and deliciously caramelized (wedding cake).