The note unfolds with an immediate, bracing alcoholic vapor, swiftly giving way to a profound and intricate bitterness that is both herbaceous and slightly medicinal. It carries the weight of dried botanical leaves, predominantly wormwood and gentian, intertwined with a delicate, yet persistent, spiced sweetness of vanilla, cinnamon, and perhaps a whisper of dried fruit like raisin or fig. There's an underlying earthen quality, almost rooty, providing depth and grounding. Its texture is smooth, almost oily, yet with an effervescent prickle on the olfactive palate, reminiscent of the fortified wine it embodies. It possesses excellent longevity, particularly in its spiced, resinous dry-down, often acting as a complex heart or base note that adds an intriguing boozy warmth and sophisticated nuance to a composition. The projection is moderate, sophisticated, never shouting, but rather drawing one closer into its enigmatic embrace.