Bottled in 2007.
The back of the bottle describes the colour as ‟topaz” which I think is fair, though it is very much a dark topaz; quite a lot of golden brown, with a hint of red. The Port is also slightly cloudy, but that isn’t something that particularly bothers me.
On the nose, there is no obvious fruit. There is some heat, but it is pleasant; it reminds me a lot of a good Cognac. The tawny sensation on the nose is light but present.
In the mouth, I immediately notice that this has many layers of complexity. There is first a light touch of sugar, followed by some heat (though again, it reminds me more of a Cognac than raw Aguardente) and perhaps a slight tankiness due to me keeping this bottle open too long. The mid-palate is quite dry for a tawny Port; I don’t have any sensation of the stickiness of some tawnies. There is some fruit, there too. Cherries, perhaps. But it is short-lived because it is quickly overtaken by the aftertaste which is very strong and undoubtedly the best part of this Port. Extremely long and nutty with perhaps a slight memory of the fruit, it lingers in the mouth for much longer than I would expect for a young tawny.
I don’t drink that much tawny Port, but this is quite an interesting offering. I feel it is quite strongly characterised and tasting much older than its age, especially compared to shippers like Taylor, which have always struck me as very good and competent but bland and a little boring. I was surprised that it had had so much bottle age (I bought it last year, so it had already had had three years by the time that Oscar sold it) but I hope it will improve in the bottle over the next 5-6 years.
