TAYLOR FLADGATE 30 YR TAWNY PORT 750ML

A bright, ruddy tawny, with an olive rim. Vigorous on both the nose and palate, with a classy Cognac-like spirit character and lifted drive. Well-structured, with a walnut, green (tomato plant) and black cardamom edge to its tightly focused fruit notes of dried apricot and fig, along with hints of salted caramel. The penetrating, back-of-the-net finish is very precise, lingering and in the Taylor’s house style.

This is lovely, displaying warm date, toffee and persimmon notes entwined with sesame oil, green tea and ginger flavors. Shows a lovely interplay of sweet and dry, with flashes of hazelnut cream and juniper contrasting each other on the long and deep finish. Drink now.

The 30-Year Old Tawny (2017 bottling) is probably my pick of the various aged Tawnies currently sold by Taylor Fladgate. The nose is beautiful: very pure with crushed strawberry, rose petal, quince and pressed flowers. The palate is medium-bodied with ginger and allspice on the entry, a fine line of acidity and a very harmonious, almost nutty finish that lingers in the mouth. This is what Tawny Port is all about! Tasted at the Big Fortified Tasting in London.

The NV 30 Year Old Tawny Port was bottled in February 2016 with a bar-top cork and comes in with 126 grams per liter of residual sugar. The last release of this I saw was the 2014. Obviously, the differences are typically small from year to year and they are not side by side, but this didn't show quite as well early on, whether due to it being a different release or just a different context. It shows good concentration while retaining some mid-palate finesse. It is complex, then it adds a powerfully intense finish laced with burnt orange peel and molasses as it warms. If I had a quibble, there was some noticeable alcohol, especially when retasted the next day. Some three or four days later, it was far smoother, but it is always a little edgy. Overall, this is a fairly stern style, dry and brooding, with that hint of spirits in the background. It reminds me of the stereotypical scene with Port (or Cognac), cigars and blue cheese. It just has that serious feel to it, along with that long finish. It seems to be one, as discussed in the accompanying article, that leans more to a 40-year Port. As always, these last indefinitely, barring cork failures, but they are not really meant to be held.