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Part of the large vertical of Cockburn which was held in The Crusting Pipe on Wednesday 8th October 2008. Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 189? Unknown, thought to be Taylor;
• 1908 Cockburn;
• 1912 Cockburn;
• 1924 Unknown;
• 1927 Cockburn;
• 1935 Cockburn (served to left side of table);
• 1935 Cockburn (served to right side of table);
• 1947 Cockburn;
• 1950 Cockburn;
• 1955 Cockburn;
• 1960 Cockburn;
• 1963 Cockburn;
• 1967 Cockburn;
• 1970 Cockburn;
• 1975 Cockburn;
• 1977 Cockburn (unofficial bottling);
• 1983 Cockburn;
• 1985 Cockburn;
• 1991 Cockburn;
• 1994 Cockburn;
• 1997 Cockburn;
• 2000 Cockburn;
• 2003 Cockburn;
• 2007 Cockburn cask sample (Touriga Nacional);
• 2007 Cockburn cask sample (Touriga Franca);
• Planning and arrangements;
• Placemats.

After careful bleaching with concentrated hydrogen peroxide, the cork has now given up its identity..

It reads:

TAYLOR
VINTAGE
1927

- Oh dear..

Tom

Thanks Tom — thread re-titled.

1927 Taylor (originally a mystery bottle): Orange-hue pale tawny, nosing hot, and of sugar. Did I detect orange? Not sure. A nasty vegetable cloying sensation in the back of the throat. Late in the evening the back-palate found coffee.

Not good, and definitely not Cockburn.

I feel terribly guilty for leading you all on(sorry)

Slightly green colour. Spirity nose. Hot and very, very sweet.

That was a 1927 Taylor?
Any chance you have a picture of the newly exposed cork?

Any chance you have a picture of the newly exposed cork?

My camera is not up to capturing the detail, but I will bring it to the Xmas offline

Tom

Simon Lisle wrote:I feel terribly guilty for leading you all on(sorry)

Simon - don't worry at all. We all had our suspicions since it was "Believed 1895" as the vintage and we all knew that Cockburn did not ship a port in 1895. However, it was well worth opening and seeing what the port turned out to be. Thank you for providing it.

Very pale, the colour of brown sugar with a hint of green on the rim. Alcoholic on the nose and bringing a sensation of a lightly sparkling wine on the tongue. Harsh, acidic and unbalanced, but thickens considerably in the mouth. After 3 hours in the glass, the wine had improved and gained a little weight, but was still not an enjoyable wine. Not rated.

Sounds like a bad bottle. The 27 Taylor I had 2 years ago was fabulous, still medium red with some browning. Very balanced tannins and alcohol. It opened up in the decanter and you would have thought it was a 1963, it was that fresh. I've seen other notes about the 27 Taylor that are consistent with my experience. Sorry about your bottle!

Miguel Côrte-Real sent AHB some of his own notes on the various vintages, some obviously drafted in advance, some from the day itself.

Miguel Côrte-Real wrote:1896

Generic Information
A great classic year, shipped by all the houses

Tasting Notes
To me, when I first tasted the Cockburn nearly 50 years ago it was almost too big, dark and heavy. Most of the wines were drunk too early, during the First World War. (W.Fletcher 1978)

Other
The wine was exceptionally big and has lasted remarkably well. (W.Fletcher 1978)

MC-R notes
7/10