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Served at the inaugural Doty Cup, on Friday 15th February 2013, in the presence of our ‟Triumphant” host, Mr. Chris Doty.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1945 Taylor (#3, Cherish Port Left);
• ???? Taylor (#4, Cherish Port Right);
• 20Y Niepoort Tawny, bottled 1975 (#8, Moist Left);
• 20Y Niepoort Tawny, bottled 2008 (#6, Moist Right);
• 1957 Fonseca Val de Mendiz, Oporto bottled 1960 (#9, Loud Left);
• 1967 Quinta do Noval (#10, Loud Right);
• 1987 Quinta do Noval (#5, Single Left);
• 1987 Quinta do Noval Nacional (#11, Single Right);
• 1985 Dow magnum (#1 and #2, Risqué Left and Ebullient Right);
• 1980 Dow magnum (#7 and #12, Risqué Right and Ebullient Left);
• Placemats;
• Planning and arrangements.

Taylor, very old, vintage unknown, though served blind as both ‟Cherish Port Right” and as ‟#4”. Orange, 20% opaque. Nose faint, and slightly acidic. Taste: acid prominent. Everything else faint. Way past its prime.

Could this be a weak bottle of an imperfect ½-century-ish port? A weak bottle of a ’60. Having guessed Mz67 for #3, Cherish Port Left, let’s guess Mz60. Nil points.

An unknown purchased from Peter Wylie, identified from the capsule as Taylor but no vintage date was visible on the plain cork. From the appearance of the bottle I estimated the vintage to be 1950-1970.

Light gold colour, the colour of madeira; 5% opaque. Little on the nose, perhaps some sour cherry and vanilla. Gentle and light on the palate, plenty of tawny flavours but little fruit. Interesting texture, quite rounded and thick. Light aftertaste and soft brown sugar. Pleasant enough, but I suspect this to have been light damaged. 83/100. Drunk 15-Feb-13. Decanted 2½ hours.