Recent Winner of the Hor's d'Age CE Family tasting!

Ieteicamais 84 /100

I purchased the bottle since it had won the CE family tasting of Hor's d'Age and I have to say so far I do and do not understand why it won. On the one hand it does everything well, balanced with spice and fruit (although I get more spice than fruit) and yet it doesn't seem to do anything extremely well where it would be a standout for some and less preferred for others. I was expecting more rancio or more fruit at this age, but I think it's just a really good all around glass which is why although it won on points it was only one of the 9 participants favorite. I will say it seems to be getting better as it opens up (I'm about a 1/3rd of the way through my bottle). Here's my tasting notes:
Nose is interesting, I get a hint of rubber, rancio, fig, honeysuckle… I’m struggling with this nose a bit. I wonder if it will open up more in the weeks to come.
Mouth: smooth, sandalwood, cigar box, muscat grape, vanilla, pepper, honey, almond.
Finish: is semi sweet, dark with a hint of band aid. I know that sounds strange, but for those that appreciate a peated scotch it’s not the smokey, iodine taste that often accompanies that but it does carry some of that band aid/rubber taste in a subtle way and that is not a bad thing.