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Enjoy the taste of cinnamon in your drinks? Simply add a drop of Dashfire cinnamon!

Lee Egbert is driven by an unending curiosity coupled with an appetite for travel and a desire to learn all he can about the flavours and spices of different cultures. Lee lived in China for a year and a half, and has also travelled extensively - hence he's had the opportunity to learn first-hand about local herbs and spices as well as spirits and food. You can imbibe with the peace of mind and knowledge that the highest regard for ingredients has been maintained.

Well known by wine lovers as the proprietors of Chateau Pontet Canet and Lafon Rochet in Bordeaux, the Tesseron family are also one of the finest exponents of luxury, extra-aged Cognacs. Dealing exclusively in X.O, their Grand Champagne vineyards were purchased in the 19th century by Abel Tesseron, whose grandsons, Alfred and Gérard, carry on the business today.

Lot 76 is a blend of 25- 30 year old reserve stocks of both Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne Cognacs, distilled predominantly in the mid-1970s and then matured in old casks until bottling. On the nose there are lifted fragrances of roasted nuts, wood spice, leatherwood honey, and baked pears, while the deep palate is viscous, dense even, with notes of ripe pear, almond, oloroso sherry, orange peel, and again, leatherwood honey. The finish is long and warming with hints of brown sugar, vanilla and salt.

"Full soft and mouthfilling. An ever-changing interplay between chestnut, honey, raspberry, beeswax, peaches in heavy syrup, and dried apricot. The wood is crisp, spicy and well-balanced, and the finish has a lovely touch of crystallised fruit"
95 points - Wine & Spirit Magazine

"Amber brown, with a nose mingling violets and prunes. Smooth and polished on the palate with hints of caramelised fruit and a fine, clear almost creamy finish." - Nicholas Faith, Decanter

As their marketing slogan suggests, Tesseron specialise in high-end cognacs, only producing “XO and Beyond”. This is the original jewel of the collection; a unique blend of legendary Grande Champagne Cognacs, including many of the finest of the family's oldest and rarest stocks. From wines distilled in 1920s, with 5% from 1905 and 30% of the blend from 1906(!). It is a very rare wine (the family tell us there is only a few more years' worth of production) that has been lovingly aged for three generations. It also includes some Colombard and Folle Blanche. It is remarkably pure and refined with floral, brown spice and green chartreuse hints. The palate is impeccably fine and balanced with a souring finish, seemingly free of spirit and beyond description. Mike Bennie nailed it with, "Wow". This also comes in a heavy, ancient style, handmade bottle and packaged in a beautiful presentation box.

Other reviews... "This sits in the 'classic range' but is called 'Exception' because 'this is where Grande Champagne really soars'. Distilled in the 1920s and contains some colombard and folle blanche. 'This is pretty much what I consider my grandfather's Cognac, 1920s distilled but with a portion from a 1905 demi-john. For me this is a bit like a book, every time you go back to it it changes, something very special; the rancio is quite strong, but very different from the 1953; very special for us, and very rare to have it tasted, if at all. Very rare bottle, but this is our first visit to Australia so I really wanted to show it' so sayeth Melanie Tesseron. Bright golden with orange hue. Amazing aromatics; amazing. Incredible to inhale, no higher alcohol burn to turn a head away, but rich, sweet-tinged, spicy and fruity, even. There's the warmth of charred oak, wet logs, sandalwood and dark chocolate too. Feels so very smooth, lathed, slippery and yet insanely deep - triggers of fine woods, fresh honey, light rancio and a kind of liquid-mineral vein, firing in volleys within the contained frame of the Cognac. And while the texture remains supple, there's a long, slow burn of campfire-like embers to close; it glows with a definitive sweetness, and then ebbs away with freshening floral, toffee notes and an almost briny tang. Wow. Wow." - Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

"... anything this smooth, silky, potent, and aromatic, is truly great stuff. It is about as ethereal Cognac as anyone could ever hope to drink." 100 points - Robert Parker, eRobertParker.com Oct 2005

An official Arran, endorsed by The World Robert Burns Federation!
Despite John Hansell's rather low rating (below), the consensus among drinkers suggests a simple but typically delicious Arran, soft-textured, with lots of stone fruit and vanilla flavours.

Other reviews... This Robert Burns World Federation Arran Single Island Malt is the Calvados or Poire Williams of the whisky world. There's no age statement on this whisky, but it has the classic aromas and flavors of sweet pears prominent in very young distilled spirits. The vanilla notes, along with its pale color, suggest a used bourbon cask. I suppose one could treat it as an aperitif, and possibly chill it down or serve it on the rocks.
79 points - whiskyadvocate.com, Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2003)

Brilliant pale straw colour with greenish tinged edges and a watery hue. Intense rose water and lychee aromatics dominate the nose with musk, hints of Turkish delight and ginger trailing on. Rich, luscious mouthfeel with lychee and musk flavours sitting over subtle infusions of Turkish delight, traces of honeycomb and spice. Fresh, off dry finish with a long lychee, musk, Turkish delight and light spice aftertaste.
Drink over the next 2-3 years.
Alc. 13%

Referencing a now defunct bitters brand, "Boker's" style Cardamom Bitters is an essential ingredient for many Pre-Prohibition vintage cocktails. This uses a glycerin base instead of a whiskey base. Fees are not the only company making a Boker’s style, but they are the only ones creating a non-alcoholic version. Try it in a Martinez.

Brilliant water like colour with a glimmer of green around the outskirts. Intense lemon and lime aromas fill the nostrils with orange rind, talc and mineral following on. Zippy lemon and lime flavours race across the palate underpinned by green apple, light talc and steely mineral characters. Dry mouth watering finish with fresh crunchy acidity. Long steely mineral laden aftertaste of lemon, lime, green apple and subtle talc.
Cellar 6-8 years.
Alc. 11%

Springflat Shiraz, along with Alan’s Cabernet, is one of two wines Wild Duck Creek Estate was founded on. Originally a single vineyard wine, Springflat Shiraz is now a blend of three vineyards; two in the north on Cambrian soils over Ironstone and Granite, and one in the south on clay loams over mudstone. Matured in 45% new French and American oak hogsheads for 22 months.

Impenetrable midnight black colour with an equally deep dark purple black hue. Heady ripe blackberry, liquorice, black cherry and dark plum aromatics flow through the nostrils with vanillin oak, traces of dark chocolate and spice also evident. Rich monstrous palate, formidable in size with lavish blackberry, liquorice, dark plum and black cherry flavours swamping the mouth forming an opulent textural feel. Vanillin oak and spicy pepper underpin the black fruit. Velvet smooth tannins. Long powerful aftertaste of black cherry, blackberry, liquorice, toasty vanillin oak and spicy pepper.
Cellar 5-6 years.
Alc. 15.8%

A Syrah and Grenache blend. Midnight black dark red colour with a dark purple hue. Rising from the glass are aromatics of ripe blackberry, dark raspberry and liquorice tinged by hints of scorched earth and spicy pepper. Medium bodied with a supple mid palate but firmer on the finish, flavours of dark raspberry, blackberry, black cherry and liquorice sit over subtle scorched earth nuances and spicy pepper. Slightly dryish finish with dusty, slightly chewy tannins. Aftertaste of spicy dark cherries, dark raspberries, liquorice, subtle scorched earth and light pepper.
Cellar 3-4 years.
Alc. 14.5%

Established in 1862, Chateau Bizard is located in Allan, fairly close to the Rhone river corridor, just south of Montelimar, in the centre of a natural amphitheater delimited by the Montagne de Raucoule, La Grangette and the Serre de Courrent ranges.

Made from predominately Syrah this is a rich and very structured Rhone. Impenetrable inky black colour with a deep dark purple black tinged hue. The nose is gushing with ripe black raspberry and liquorice aromas with some black cherry also evident over scorched earth, graphite and spicy pepper notes. Dense rich black cherry, black raspberry and liquorice flavours have a tight inky feel within a structured core. Elements of graphite, scorched earth and blackpepper also make an appearance. Finishes dry with firm, robust tannins providing muscle and definition. Excellent underlying power with a long black cherry, liquorice, graphite, scorched earth and blackpepper aftertaste. Requires some patience to allow the tannins to fully integrate.
Cellar 5-6 years.
Alc. 14.5%