I tasted this in last week’s sherryTT and wanted to give it another go in more neutral territory. On that occasion I tasted this slightly sweet wine (it has about 13% old pedro ximenez mixed with an old palo cortado) against four deadly dry palo cortados and I wondered if my appreciation was skewed by the comparison. Judging by this second, lab conditions attempt, I don’t think so: this still seems pretty epic.

It really does have the baked nutty fruitiness of a christmas cake (not including marzipan and icing, evidently) and once the initial acidity passes it is tremendously rich with lots of flavours – coffee, walnuts, raisins, cedar and even liquorice. The sweetness is also well balanced with the concentration and bitterness of the rest of the wine – really sweet and sticky but also bitter and intense.

Really excellent stuff, no doubt. Maybe I slightly prefer the Noe overall but this is very good.