Springbank Palo Cortado 10 Y.O. Release 2023

The nose is of an almost cloying sweetness, a squeeze of cherry tart blended with red fruits, macaroons, apricots and dried figs, coconut flakes, candied fruit (orange, mango, pineapple) and lime honey. In the background, a buttery and slightly salty part (shortbread) intertwines with vegetable notes slightly diluting the diabetic assault. The spicy component is almost nil, as is the alcohol content, peat is absent except for a vague earthy and mineral background.
On the palate, the spices mark the territory with a copious dose of pepper, aniseed and nutmeg on a medium-bodied texture in which the sweetness becomes rougher and more decadent, dried fruit dominating (figs with almonds, plums, apricots, sultanas) with a touch of blueberries, sweet liquorice, chocolate, a pronounced saline vein and smoke, in the form of a wood stove with some dirty vegetal notes. A vegetal note that gradually takes on more body, assuming mineral and at times balsamic connotations.
Quite long and slightly saline finish of red fruits, nuts, liquorice, spices, with bitter and vegetal components and a slight smoke inflection.