Same house, different brands

[10Anos]

A question by uncle tom in this thread made me curious about similarities between different brands of the same shipper, and more specifically between a famous brand and a buyers own brand (BOB). In the same thread I (a little off-topic) compared two standard tawnies of the same shipper that turned out to be very different.

I decided to go a step up the ladder and compare two LBVs by the Symingtons. To be more specific: a Warre's LBV 2001 (bottled in 2007) at ┚¬ 11 and a Conqueror LBV 2001 (bottled in 2007) at ┚¬ 9.
Conqueror is the BOB of Holland's most well known supermarket (Albert Heijn).
I'm not going to do a TN in here, but tell you the result straight away: IMO they are the same!

While decanting I noticed they looked and smelled very similar. As a result I decided to do a blind tasting. Having two identical decanters means blind tasting is very easy (no help needed, just stick a note on the bottom of each decanter and swap a bit until you've forgotten which is which).
There was no difference in colour and negligible differences in nose and palate. This leads me to believe they are the same.

So, there you have it: a BOB can also be the same as a well known brand!
An interesting thing is that there's also a 10yo Tawny from Conqueror, if that's as good as the Warre's Otima 10 then it must be really good value for money... I see another comparison coming...

[Rubby]

I noticed that Conqueror LBV too today, but was reluctant to buy it.
Judging by your little experiment I think I should try it though, because I really enjoyed the Warre's.

[KillerB]

I noticed that Conqueror LBV too today, but was reluctant to buy it.
Judging by your little experiment I think I should try it though, because I really enjoyed the Warre's.

If I find somewhere to buy this whilst I'm in Utrecht then I will give it a go. I quite like the filtered LBV but it is no match for the unfiltered.

[10Anos]

If I find somewhere to buy this whilst I'm in Utrecht then I will give it a go. I quite like the filtered LBV but it is no match for the unfiltered.

You will be looking for a supermarket by the name "Albert Heijn", then. But that shouldn't be very hard, they're strewn across this country and are easy to recognise by the logo in the upper left corner you can see here.

I'd like to know if you and Rubby also think that the Conqueror LBV is the same as the Warre's LBV...

[10Anos]

An interesting thing is that there's also a 10yo Tawny from Conqueror, if that's as good as the Warre's Otima 10 then it must be really good value for money... I see another comparison coming...

That comparison is now .
Warre's Otima 10yot (┚¬12/50cl) vs Conqueror 10yot (┚¬12/75cl).

I must confess that I had hoped these would be identical (like the LBVs at the start of this thread) but they are not.
The Otima has a more orangy tawny colour than the Conqueror which is a little more brownish .
The nose is also different, I actually prefer the Conqueror over the Otima 10yot. There is more fruit on the nose of the Otima, the Conqueror has more nuts and wood on the nose.
The Otima 10yot has a thicker mouthfeel than the Conqueror.
On the palate it's the same difference as with the nose: the Conqueror is somewhat "heavier", more nuts and wood than the Otima 10yot which is a bit more spirity.

This is a very interesting comparison and a surprise. I wouldn't have expected a buyers own brand (Conqueror) to be a match for an Otima 10yot, even though both were bottled by the Symingtons, but it is. Right now I find it hard to say which I like better. I will be tasting both in the days to come and find out...

Note: the comparison is not 100% 1:1 because the Otima 10yot was bottled in 2006, the Conqueror in 2007. I'm not sure if this is a very big deal, though, as these are blended ports...

[10Anos]

Right now I find it hard to say which I like better. I will be tasting both in the days to come and find out...

A few days later:
On their own they were both very good aged tawnies, but when tasted side by side, I preferred the Conqueror over the Otima on every occasion.