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From Cockburn.

An odd bottle picked up as part of a mixed lot at auction. Deep red in colour, the shade of black cherry juice; opaque centre. Nosing gently of fruit this delivers a much better palate impression than I was expecting. Deep and rich on the palate with tannins that are barely perceptible other than as a black chocolate undertone to a deep black cherry fruit that is soft yet alive. Slightly light in acidity, nevertheless this delivers a delicious fruit-forward port that has a modest level of complexity to it. The finish is full of cherry and black licorice, rich and slightly spice. Not expecting much from this port I was pleasantly surprised. 89/100. Opened 18-Oct-15. Decanted 7 hours.

I had a bottle of Quinta dos Canais 1992 myself last year (also an odd bottle from a mixed auction lot); my notes say "full of raisin/liquorice and black cherries, with hint of vanilla", which seems remarkably similar.

I have found that for more recent Cockburn (post-'77) I tend to prefer the Quinta dos Canais releases (which tend to be in the non-full-declaration years) to the Cockburn releases; It is possible that this apparent bias might simply be that the Canais is more approachable when younger.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the Canais 1992. And as for it being more approachable when "younger", it's reached the 21 year threshold so it's fair game.

AHB wrote:I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the Canais 1992. And as for it being more approachable when "younger", it's reached the 21 year threshold so it's fair game.

The context for my "younger" comment is that I have had Canais from '92, '00, '03, '04 and '07, all of which I rated higher than the Cockburn from '94, '97, '00, '03 and '07 at the time I drank them; since most of the port in that range is less than 21, I'm aware that my current preference for Canais over Cockburn could be changed as the later Cockburns reach maturity, however I was only acknowledging the possibility, rather than thinking it was perhaps likely.

And yes, I would like some more of the '92 too!