Jesús Barquín: Chestnut. The nose is fine and delicate, with fresh herbs and a hint of dried fruit. The palate is clean, long, well defined, expressive, with excellent acidity. A great Amontillado of remarkable Jerez character. 18.5

Andrew Jefford: Pale to mid-walnut. Sweet, warm, present, enveloping aromas: like a vapor bath of dried apricots, old wood, and warm stones. Very showy, but deliciously so. On the palate, this is much drier than I expected—that aromatic sweetness doesn’t come through in the same way. It’s very pure and long, dense and driving, with huge edge and incision, volume and print; the tongue trembles a little beneath the flavor weight. The dried apricots have been dried so far, and their skins pounded so furiously into their flesh, that all that remains is a kind of salty, scoured, age-bittered memory of the thing itself. It is, in fact, austere and challenging, but rigorous, pure, and true: a Calvin of an Amontillado. Again, I find it hard to score, since it is almost more admirable than likable. But if you want something to admire… 17

Richard Mayson: Mid-amber, with a green glint; gentle, seamless, savory aromas, lightly roasted almonds with the merest hint of citrus peel, quite suave initially; fine and elegant, a bowl of salted nuts in a glass, long and linear with a rapier-like finish—a complete apéritif! 18.5