Looks charred to me but as others have said it's incredibly hard to tell from pics. I'd reach out to the seller and see what they have to say and go from there,
Fill the bowl gravity style then take 5/6 cubes and squash them flat with a knife blade or the back of a spoon and sprinkle on top and light. I'm pretty sure you will be rewarded with drinking chocolate notes and brown sugar sweetness.
Lovely wines mate and that birth year drop looks very nice, what was the fare like that accompanied these wines?
That Coonawarra label script looks very much like Penfolds current stuff, wonder if it was a purchase/merger?
You have been cross matched by big bro on google searches and it’s just corralling your thoughts, wants, desires and bringing them to you by any means necessary
I tend to make things fit so if I have a 16oz bag of tobacco I will shoehorn that into a 1 litre Kilner Jar which is pretty tight but I also have jars that are only 1/4 full too, really its up to you and probably how long you plan on cellaring for.