Tasting notes Serge Valentin 92/100 (WhiskyFun.com)

Without further ceremony…

Colour: brown amber.

Nose: I'm not sure we've ever been this close to very old armagnac. Starts with some wonderful chocolate and ganache, gianduja, gradually moves towards mocha and macchiato, with also wee whiffs of coconut water, goes then towards Schwarzwald cake (cherries, chocolate) and juts black tea and cigars, but never, ever gets meaty. There, we've already got an answer to our virtual questions. With water: indeed, very few meaty tones (perhaps Grisons meat, since we've been to Switzerland?) rather tar, cigars, and simply even more chocolate. Perhaps a drop of smoky 'whiskey' sauce. Crushed pine needles.

Mouth (neat): oh, thin mints! Plus maracuja coulis over chocolate fondant and prunes. Or there, prunes in old armagnac. Pine resin, caraway and cloves in the background. This one's pretty tight and focused this far, to say the least. With water: oranges and more piney things popping out. I know there is some kind of short-drink where you would blend triple-sec with crème de menthe. Curiously refreshing. A tiny touch of fresher oak – they may have changed the bung recently (ha!)

Finish: rather long, more on spicy marmalade, quince jam, a little pepper and juniper (oude genever), while some raw chocolate and a little coconut cream would sing in the aftertaste.

Comments: assertively immaculate, without the tiniest flaw and with a very well-behaved oakiness.

Tasting notes Ruben Luyten 93/100 (WhiskyNotes.be)

Nose: as you may know Oloroso means scented or odorous in Spanish. Well, this is muy Oloroso. It shows cherries and raspberries (sweet and sour), with orange marmalade, orange peels and candied ginger. In the background there are elegant resinous notes, pine forest, cigars and polished cedar. Hints of brandy. Some cardamom and cinnamon. Also subtle herbal tea and a puff of smoke in the distance. In short, quite heady, vibrant, complex and really beautiful.

Mouth: very dense and powerful. The wood is strong, immediately delivering herbal notes (thyme, mint and eucalyptus). Coupled to this is chestnut honey, a faint chocolate dryness, resins and plenty of pipe tobacco notes. Mid-palate it bursts into sour cherries and prunes with hints of pink grapefruit and bergamot behind them (rancio style). Also liquorice, aniseed and Chinese all-spice in the end. A charred hint as well.

Finish: very long, drying and herbal. Some blackberries, marmalade, tobacco and oak char.

A real gem again. While I’d say there is a little more charred oak influence than in the first edition, it’s still a hugely complex, wonderful whisky. You get all the richness of a first-fill sherry cask, including a hint of 1950s smoke, and little plain wood overall. Indeed another beauty.