Mhoba SAW 6 year 2018 Holmes Cay cask #198 (59%)

N: wood glue drying on a balsa wood structure or model house, brown banana. With air: pancake syrup and brown spice

P: rather sharp glue and alcohol sting, but also fairly sweet, with caramelized banana and ras el hanout. With air and a drop of water these SAW casks both gain a musty, mustardy character on the finish

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Mhoba SAW 6 year 2018 Holmes Cay cask #199 (59%)

N: initially almost indistinguishable from cask #198; hunting for a difference I might call this a shade mellower and nuttier. Eventually I get a hint of oxidative character, like cardboard stained with dried spices

P: definitely a nuttiness here that’s not in the other cask, and reminds me of those very young, Oloroso cask, high ester Hampdens. The spice in this one is more like sandalwood. All of these are pleasantly sweet but this one might be too much so

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Mhoba SAW-P 6 year 2018 Holmes Cay cask #200 (59%)

N: glue and model wood and flambéed banana, but now with a big puff of turmeric and yellow curry or Jamaican Jerk seasoning. Banana peppers, smoked grilled pineapple, a hint of mustard powder, but nothing about this says peat per se, and it’s barely smoky

P: while this is aromatically much more idiosyncratic than the SAW casks, it might actually be more accessible, as that crazy glue is toned down in favor of more spice and fruit. All the flavor notes here could easily fit in some Caribbean hot sauce based on yellow scotch bonnets: it’s fruity, exotically spiced, and slightly vegetal. An original, and I really like it

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Mhoba SAW-P 6 year 2018 Holmes Cay cask #201 (59%)

N: similar to #200 but less exotic, darker, a slight step back toward the SAW casks. Some raw rooty vegetables maybe?

P: less expressive and engaging than #200, more earth and ginger and carrot, but in the same territory

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