Taylor Very Old Single Harvest Port, Taylor Fladgate 1896

Deep mahogany centre with a thin olive green rim; distinctly and very beautifully lifted on the nose, a touch balsamic or in Portuguese terms, vinagrinho, with a touch of cask dissipating to reveal a wonderful perfume of quince and a hint of coffee roast; richly concentrated (218 g/l residual sugar) with wonderfully mellifluous texture and a fresh streak of acidity which stops it from cloying, there’s a hint of molasses, butterscotch and leather on the finish which, as you might expect, goes on and on and on. The essence of Port: glorious and the last of its kind.