Colour: gold. Nose: his is another dimension, quite unusual at that. Much more fragrant and less ‘austere’ than all the other 1974 Ardbegs we just had. Starts on orange liqueurs and rosewater as well as incense, but comes back into line after a few minutes (seconds, actually), getting splendidly mineral, almondy, peaty, mushroomy, seaweedy and, of course, smoky. Reminds me of the first Provenance, with maybe just a little less oomph but also a little more elegance. No need to say I like this a lot. Mouth: this one underlines what I was meaning regarding the ‘Symposion’, for it displays a much wider array of flavours. At random: ham, camphor and pine resin, salt, citrons, peat (no kiddin’!), marzipan, crystallised lemon zests, smoked fish, live oil... Whatever... Finish: long, a litlle more resinous now, with also unexpected pearish notes. Yes, pears. Comments: state of the art – and very entertaining at that, thanks to the (Williams) pears.

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