18/10/2021 Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan Paul Launois Release b.2021 (57.6%, OB, Finished in 195-litre Barriques from Domaine Paul Launois Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, B#AD/04:21, 2576b): nose: crikey! What a fruity nose. It has pink grapefruit and pineapple, bursting out of the glass, candied pineapple cubes, and the subtlest pinch of earth. A minute in, it unveils something saltier, be that kelp or salt marshes, rosemary or gorse by a sea loch. In any case, it is very pretty. It soon backtracks towards the grapefruit and pineapple, this time adding yellow flowers into the mix (tulip petals), turning borderline sappy, in the long run, with buttercups and dandelion stems. Again, the fruity sweetness comes back, tickled by this delicate earthiness. The second nose is more polished, churning out waxy goodness and fruit on dry earth, while dialling down the sappy bitterness. By "waxy," I mean: grapefruit skins and apricots, yet also, well, wax. Hardened beeswax and all. Mouth: I dipped my lips into this last night, and it definitely seems stronger this morning -- ha! ha! The mouth is creamy, still fruity, closer to pink-grapefruit washing-up liquid than to the raw fruit, now. It retains the flowery, sappy bitterness hinted at by the nose, and, all in all, it is a winner. The second sip brings back some sappy greens, somewhere between clover and chives. Surprisingly and perhaps disappointingly, the rosemary is nowhere to be found, and the salt marshes are but a fading memory. At a push, one could still detect gorse flowers, yet the palate is an inexorable departure from that aspect; instead, it focuses more and more clearly on fruit -- peaches, nectarines, clementines, foliage included. Finish: warming, fruity and creamy in a hot-squashed-fruit way. The earthy side is perhaps most pronounced in this finish, initially leaving the tongue a little dehydrated, as if it had just processed toasted bread. The top of the palate still picks up fruit compote long after swallowing , though -- it is not a toasty dram at all. In fact, repeated sipping seems to crank up the fruitiness, and the earth on the tongue morphs into the acidic bitterness of dried citrus peels (pink grapefruit, still). Moreover, it unleashes some power, with red-chilli powder blended with ground ginger and cinnamon, but also a notch of tame peppermint. Ardnamoochan for the win! 8/10 (Thanks for the sample, WK)