1977 Dow

[RonnieRoots]

Tasted at the July 2 1977 horizontal.

Again quite light in colour, but it just shows slightly younger than the Graham. Mostly coffee and tobacco on the rather spirity nose. The palate is dominated by secondary flavours. Brown sugar, orange peel and other citric flavours, black pepper. Racy and beautifully layered. But completely secondary and in need of drinking now. After I learned this was Dow, I was very surprised, as previous bottles had been very dark and young. Another guess for Delaforce, but wrong again. 92 points now, but drink soon.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Clear and bright, dark centre and a brown and watery rim. Bright and floral nose showing menthol and a touch of alcohol over a really nice citrus and kumquat scent. Sweet on entry, some treacle over dried dates and lots of brown or muscvado sugar mixed in with the strong seville orange marmalade. Long and lingering aftertaste that is just wonderful. This is a fine vintage port at its peak right now. 90/100.

[RonnieRoots]

To make searching easier, I've copy/pasted LadyR's tasting notes of this port, as originally posted here:

Dow’s ‘77
Very secondary port, maybe more matured than expected. Light brown in colour, with nose of citrus, rosehip, tobacco and some alcohol giving it a slightly too hot start. On the palette, tones of brown sugar, orange peel and fresh almonds alternate each other making it a fresh, almost tawny-like, port. Very smooth with silky tannins.
93 pts