30/01/2026 Hellyers Road

Hellyers Road 19yo New Vibrations (69.9%, OB, American Oak, C#4085.05): nose: strong farm scents, with muck and dried mud the most obvious. Those are followed by hessian sacks filled with fertiliser and food recycling that has become compost. Surreptitiously, baking aromas reach the nostrils too, chocolate custard or sticky toffee pudding, as if served in a vase -- by which I mean there is a dry residue in there too, akin to algae or lichen stuck to the sides of an empty vase. The second nose is earthier yet, and blends mud patties with stagnant water. It is not long before timid fruits emerge, a mix of myrtles, grapes and plums casually displayed on an oilcloth. It also has a soft touch of penicillin, so soft it is hard to spot, and barley mash, after a while. Mouth: muddy on the tongue too, it soon shoots dark-chocolate darts, bitterer than they are sweet. Chewing drops a bagful of ripe fruits into a roaring fire, fleetingly sweet and tropical, durably hot. The longer it spends in the mouth, the fruitier it becomes, but it takes a lot of discipline and dedication (nay! abnegation) to endure the heat. Flames, terracotta, mud patties waiting to be baked, and lots of fruits (banana, papaya, pineapple and coconut, persimmon). The second sip injects a bit of grit, and, if it is not sand, it still feels slightly sedimentary (chalk, probably). It is also sweet, which suggests caster sugar. Hot fruits are right behind, now flirting with mango and mangosteen. Finish: big, assertive, it dishes out hot fruits with a pinch of spices and a sprinkle of soot. Retro-nasal olfaction picks up burnt wood dunked in water to extinguish it, and burnt fruit stones. Even fruitier at second gulp, and those fruits easily dominate the earthy part. We still have piping-hot mud patties and baked clay, to be clear; they are simply less obvious than mangosteen, rambutan and plantain, at this point. Repeated quaffing reminds one that this is pretty strong: the mouth gets all numb. Only a minor bitter note of toasted barley, barley sugar, or overly-milked chicory infusion prevents a higher score. What an excellent surprise! 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, DW)