1931 Taylor

[Alex Bridgeman]

Army & Navy bottled with a typed label reading "Taylor Pinhao 1931". Slightly hazy making it difficult to judge opacity. Very soft nose full of toffee apples and quite a lot of heat. Burnt bacon on the palate, along with burnt toast. Bitter and dry tannins make for a dry tobacco ash palate offset by sweet orange juice. This gets better with patience on the palate, but is so dry and tannic and has a persistent streak of heat. Lots of heat on the aftertaste, leaving big, dry cheeks and a slightly chewy bitter-rose hip length. An interesting port with a very long length but very bitter. (87/100).

An extra 2 hours in the glass really benefitted the port, allowing it to pull together and deliver a lovely, concentrated coffee and orange that had a vibrant richness and depth to it. Much better than the initial taste after just 1 hour of decanter time. 90/100. Drunk 22-Sep-14. Decanted 3 hours.

[jdaw1]

T31 or something like it, at Quinta do Vesuvio. 60% opaque; red to dark-red. Burnt nose. Palate had some heat and burnt dark fruit. more heat late palate. Perhaps the burntness was caramel? Sweet. And something high-toned, perhaps mint.