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• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1955 Adam;
• 1955 Buckingham Palace Factory House Blend;
• 1955 Cockburn;
• 1955 Dow;
• 1955 Ferreira;
• 1955 Fonseca;
• 1955 González Byass;
• 1955 Graham;
• 1955 Mackenzie;
• 1955 Martinez;
• 1955 Niepoort;
• 1955 Quinta do Noval;
• 1955 Offley;
• 1955 Sandeman;
• 1955 Taylor;
• 1955 Warre;
• Placemats;
• Planning and arrangements.

Edit: and, with dinner,

• 1955 Chateau Longueville au Baron de Pichon-Longueville in magnum.

BPFHB55: 40% opacity, lovely red. Nose is grapefruit. And I wrote ‟corked?”. DRT ‟corked”; CRS ‟dishclothy”. Tasted weird, and of vanilla.

My note says "Corked". It was fairly mild on the nose but completely horrible on the palate.

Bottle and label of the 1955 Buckingham Palace Factory House Blend:

Good colour, mature red/brown, 50% opaque. Mildly corked on the nose, over what would have been a pleasant fruitiness. Flattened in the mout, showing the mild corkiness; good body and structure and a surprising amount of fruit given the obvious TCA. Bitter and woody on the aftertaste. Not rated.

So...a bit of 'typical port smell' on the nose, but then in the mouth...this tastes like a donkey punch. Really out of control flavor profile, and a finish that tastes like an 18-wheeler (do you have those in Europe?) doing a jackknife on the interstate highway leading to a 14 car pile-up. Corked? I guess this is corked, but it is the most vibrant and untamed form of corkiness I have ever experienced. FLAWED (Not Rated)

Color: Third darkest along with the Warre. Dark red or garnet.
Nose: Perfumed alcohol, allegedly corked. Some secondary fruits.
Palate: A little bland and edgy, some Christmas spices.
Finish: A bit harsh. Warm and long, though.

Score: 87 points. While others claimed it was corked, I couldn't tell and thought it was reasonably nice if a bit past its prime.