Tappit hen

[LGTrotter]

I have not yet seen a bottle that looks like a chicken. Are we sure The claims about the entomology of the name are not just urban myth?

No, but we have all seen headless cats.

This was almost as disturbing a picture as if it had been a headless cat. They give me the shivers.

[Glenn E.]

Note the red top - more likely one that AHB has repurposed.

[uncle tom]

I must admit that whenever I've done this with a port magnum, it is apparent that it contains a not insignificant amount extra than 2 x 75 cl bottles....

Oporto bottled Morgan '66 magnums hold 1.65L - 10% extra - but no-one has been able to tell me why...

[Alex Bridgeman]

Many of you are wrong (I'm not sure who, precisely, but I will figure that out eventually) so I will ignore all those who are wrong. There is only one answer. Short, dumpy bottles the shape of a pota and which hold 2.1 litres are Tappit Hens. Tall tedious bottles that hold 2.25 litres are tregnums.

Tappit Hens are called Tappit Hens because I was told they were called Tappit Hens. Trying to understand why is like trying to catch the wind, or like trying get get Alex Salmand to say "I was wrong". It's never going to happen - unless Daniel can set one of his students a thesis challenge to discover how bottle sizes got their names.

And, incidentally, the Tappit Hens I refilled held less than 2.25 litres. They would not hold 3 modern bottles (which meant that I was sadly forced to drink some Vesuvio 2011 earlier this year).

[Strojer]

There is a Danish Merchant who Sells Dow 1977 in 2,1 L. Tappit hens atm. Costs 4700 Dkr. (about 500£)

I believe they are comming directly from Symingtons.

Strojer

[djewesbury]

If only it were something other than D77. What a gamble that would be.

[CPR 1]

Christies are selling some G70 in 'Tappit Hens' (lot 74) direct from the Symington family reserves although from the photo it they looks very much like a 'tregnum' to me, but the label says Tappit Hen!

[mosesbotbol]

I have a couple of 1963 Dow's in this size.

[LGTrotter]

I have a couple of 1963 Dow's in this size.

Come down off the fence, do you call them tappit hens or tregnums?

[AW77]

I have a couple of 1963 Dow's in this size.

Come down off the fence, do you call them tappit hens or tregnums?

Should we have a referendum on this question? Perhaps this would solve the issue.

[LGTrotter]

Should we have a referendum on this question? Perhaps this would solve the issue.

Sometimes these things raise more questions than they answer.

[mosesbotbol]

I have a couple of 1963 Dow's in this size.

Come down off the fence, do you call them tappit hens or tregnums?

I call them magnum's with a bonus. They originally sold for about the same price as a magnum, so those extra glasses were the "bonus"!

[DaveRL]

I came across this Nautical Archaeology paper on Scottish pewter - The early evolution of the Tappit Hen. Contains much already discussed, and a little extra. This area, incidentally, has excellent diving, the nearby Hispania wreck and Falls of Lora drift are both great fun.

[LGTrotter]

I came across this Nautical Archaeology paper on Scottish pewter - The early evolution of the Tappit Hen. Contains much already discussed, and a little extra. This area, incidentally, has excellent diving, the nearby Hispania wreck and Falls of Lora drift are both great fun.

I have not finished reading this, but I shall. Great article, thanks.

[djewesbury]

We discovered last night that there is a Tappit Hen club that meets in the Boot & Flogger, and that Alex is not its president!

[DaveRL]

Weird. I read a recent tasting note on a bottle of 1992 Fonseca that was consumed in the Boot and Flogger and had been donated by Stephen Eggins. I remembered the thread from a couple of years ago where Stephen was wanting to very generously donate said bottle, and that he had been in a Port society, and I couldn't remember which. Quick search in the archives turned up that it was the Tappit Hen Society, and hence the search for it out of curiosity. I found nothing easily on the club but turned up the Archaeology article which I thought interesting and worth sharing. And hence found out something about the club.

[djewesbury]

It's all meant to be. Whatever it is, it's meant to be.

[DaveRL]

It is a funny old world.