They found the body lay in liquor, like boiled brawn. The liquor was clear and insipid: they both tasted it. Mr Wylde said it had something of the taste of iron, but that might have been on account of the iron rod. This was a strange and rare way of conserving a corpse. Perhaps it was a pickle, as for beef. There was no ill smell.
I literally have no comments, lol.
I often use taste to ID unknown substances. It is a very useful tool. If it is too nasty, I just spit it out and all is fine.