1977 Taylor

[g-man]

Started decanting for consuming tomorrow.

clear well settled bottle (apparently having sat in the fridge for a better part of 1 1/2 years) that threw some very fine but copious amounts of sediment.

I must admit i've never looked at Taylor's corks before but I found this interesting. I always thought that Taylor branded their corks with the words Taylor, Vintage, 1977. My bottle has instead TF, Vintage, 1977, is this correct?

nice dark ruby red with very little slight signs of bricking around the edges.

t+0. Harsh alcohol singes the hair of my nostrils.
A grassy, quince/unripe pear and light tobacco nose infused with lemon.
Potent mouthfeel of figs, candied cherries, and cedar wood.
60+ second finish of a wonderful vanilla VSOP cognac that warms the mouth, body and lungs.

Now that I mention cognac, this is what this taste like at t+0, a very refined VSOP bordering XO cognac.
One meant to be sipped very slowly and perhaps with a splash of water to cleanse the mouth. A fine cuban would probably work very well too.

So potent, will try again 18 hours later and hopefully the alcohol will have blended.

[g-man]

T+15 .. No more nose hair burning.

Raspberry milk chocolate nose with a touch of currants.

This has picked up body, the alcohol has melded a little better.
Loads of creamy milk chocolate. Cinnamon spiced blueberries. The alcohol has bite.
60 + second finish of dark brown sugar that still ends in spirit. Warms the mouth down to the stomach!

The figs have disappeared though and I think I'm starting to see Uncle Tom's explanation of "Peter Pan syndrome"

I don't think the alcohol would ever full blend before the fruit dies.

[g-man]

T+24

this just doesn't let up the strong spirit taste.

cherry covered milk chocolate on the nose with an impressive 60 second finish still.

Same body taste profile. But the alcohol, my god it's strong in the taylor

I don't think it'll ever fully blend.

87/100

8/7.

[DRT]

But the alcohol, my god it's strong in the taylor

For me that is a typical Taylor signature, so much so that I can only assume that at least a little heat is an intentional element of the house style. Sometimes I find it distracting but in a good one it just adds a lovely glow to the experience.

Does anyone else have a similar experience with Taylor VPs?

[Andy Velebil]

I get it a lot with Vargellas, so much so that I am not a major fan of it. But I don't get that much in their VP's, so it doesn't bother me there.

[TBird]

i got to enjoy this with gman on saturday night. first, i usually hate reading and even worse, writing tn's....add that in with me having even enjoyed less than a dozen decent ports in my whole life and you get what you can do with my "impressions"....throw them away. i'll leave them for the professionals...

that out of the way, this was a wall of alcohol and figs. and dates. BUT(!!!!) as they were kicking me out, i felt it meld into a really mellow milk chocolate covered cherry raspberry tart. IF i made projections, i would not touch these for 10 more years if i was loooking for a mellow, stylistic drink. which i do.

so there.

[KillerB]

that out of the way, this was a wall of alcohol and figs. and dates. BUT(!!!!) as they were kicking me out, i felt it meld into a really mellow milk chocolate covered cherry raspberry tart. IF i made projections, i would not touch these for 10 more years if i was loooking for a mellow, stylistic drink. which i do.

so there.

That constitutes a TN - you've been rumbled