NV Reliquia Amontillado

TA 10 g/l. A manzanilla base. Barbadillo winemaker Montse Molina describes this as 'ethereal, creamy, powerful but delicate … an essence more than a wine'. She notes that once opened, it would be pretty stable and would last for months, although it might get a little hazy (which wouldn't affect the flavour).  Bright pecan colour with a very, very slight cloudiness. Smells of shoe polish. Walnuts in bronze cast. SO, SO salty. Staggeringly salty. Acetone. Dried peaches cast in salt blocks. Bone dry but a sense of rose petals, especially on the nose as it opens up. I can  feel  it on the nose! Smells like an old, old library, roasted walnuts, it's so fierce that I'm completely intimidated but I realise I could sit here smelling this forever – in fact, it's easier to smell than taste. The tiniest sip roars in my mouth, slams into my solar plexus, taking every taste-bud prisoner, Metallica meets tornado. The hair on the back of my neck is prickling. Iodine. Iron. Rust. Lime rind in brine. Old, old, old church dust. Roasted, fine-ground coriander. Bitterly dry Oxford marmalade. A terrifyingly complex wine. Is this what it would be like spending an hour with Stephen Hawking? (TC)

From Sanlúcar. Palomino. RS 7.35 g/l. Aged around 100 years, from a set of family heirlooms. Refreshed several years ago with some old Amontillado. An extremely rare single-cask Amontillado. Tim Holt, Barbadillo Director, writes, ‘I am currently delving in to the archives and asking retired members of the bodega exactly what its origins are, but it seems that this butt was assigned to Manuel Barbadillo, as a child, at the turn of the 20th century. Four other butts, were given to his four brothers for personal use as well. These are therefore referred to as Los Niños. Manuel the oldest child was the last to pass away (1891-1986), and this is when they were moved to our Sacristia bodega and left untouched except on one occasion using wine from the Reliquia solera to prevent their disappearance through evaporation. Manuel's name is written on the cask together with his wife Aurora and that is why we refer to it as the Manuel & Aurora Amontillado. The original wine that created this wine was from a very old Amontillado at the time called 'Miura' and blended with 'Hindenburg' another old Amontillado (c.1900) and replenished very occasionally to keep the wine. We estimate it is well over 100 years old on average but it is difficult to be precise. The intensity of flavour though says it all. I decided to send this particular Sherry to the tasting as we felt between us, and together with Sarah Jane Evans, who had the chance to taste it here in bodega, that it was the most elegant of the 'Niños'. Each interestingly have very different personalities. Most importantly, we plan to bottle it soon for posterity’s sake, so the angels don't get any more. It will be though a very limited and one-off bottling as this is non Solera. We think we might get as many as 300 bottles from the cask. But of course, that will be all for ever after. Naturally the price will reflect this but I prefer announce the finer details closer to the time of launch, suffice to say we are talking several 1000s of pounds We are currently at the stage of looking for a presentation (bottle and gift pack) that can live up to the contents, and the price bracket. Pale yellowish tawny. Very intense and intriguing nose. Old and antique and wiry somehow. Really interesting! Just the right side of too old. Bracing and pungent and bone dry but with multiple layers of flavour. Walnuts. (JR)

Comes in a sealed decanter encased in a miniature crate. Powerful yet subtle complexity, sharp mouthfeel, long and profound, unquestionably good but questionably priced. (RH)