Blade and Bow Bourbon Whiskey (75cl, 45.5%)

Blade and Bow is a Kentucky straight bourbon aged in a solera system and bottled at 45.5% ABV in a 750ml bottle. The solera method uses tiered barrels that are never fully emptied, so each bottle holds a little older whiskey layered with younger. The bourbon is a tribute to the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, which closed in 1992, and it includes some of the last whiskey distilled there. Each bottle carries a decorative brass key, honouring the five keys of bourbon-making: grain, yeast, fermentation, distillation and aging. The nose offers ripe pear, apricot, vanilla, light oak and baking spice. On the palate come caramel, toasted oak, dried fruit, nutmeg and a hint of tobacco. The finish is clean and lingering, with charred oak and warm winter spice.