A bottle from a stash of 40s and 50s acquired from Corney & Barrow a few years ago. They were below the usual C&B sales standard so were sold at heavily reduced prices. The six bottles of 1948 Mackenzie I was lucky enough to secure cost £24 each...
On receipt the Mackenzies all appeared to be in good condition with good levels, but recently discovered that one had been leaking and had alarmingly reduced to low shoulder. I was hoping to be able to share this with some of the good readers of the Forum, but the Zombie Apocalypse has put paid to this plan and decided it couldn't remain on death row any longer.
Opened 28/12/2020 - cork pretty much disintegrated, but could make out some details including "48" and "bottled". This aligned with previous bottles where the cork survived, so I have no doubts as to identity. Decanted clear and bright through muslin and had a very heavy sediment. An initial nose didn't promise much (indeed, it was quite unpleasant) so decided to leave it in the decanter to see if it was just bottle stink.
At +3hr much improved. Surprisingly dark and maybe 40% opaque, with a tawny core and little fading to rim. If served blind it's unlikely I'd have guessed at something with 70 years of bottle age. On the nose some oxidative notes, but nothing alarming. Well developed with spice, leather and Christmas cake. The palate was better than the nose, without any signs of the oxidation. Again, well developed with prominent liquorice, spice, dried orange and fig. Little tannin and the alcohol a bit more forward than one might prefer but overall not disappointing at all.
At +27hr, the remains (about 1/2 a bottle) which had been vac-v-vin'ed showed little change apart from some Oloroso notes starting to come through in the mouth.
A couple of glasses remain and will update on these once consumed later today.
1948 Mackenzie
1948 Mackenzie
Last edited by nac on 00:19 Thu 31 Dec 2020, edited 1 time in total.
Re: 1948 Mackenzie
At +51hr final glass which appeared more opaque (50%+) and more mahogany than tawny. Nose as before, but now pronounced taste of raisins.
Overall a lovely Port which doesn’t seem to have suffered too much as a result of the leakage. Remaining three bottles are all top shoulder or better and appear to be sound. Hopefully they’ll be an opportunity to share in the future!
Overall a lovely Port which doesn’t seem to have suffered too much as a result of the leakage. Remaining three bottles are all top shoulder or better and appear to be sound. Hopefully they’ll be an opportunity to share in the future!