Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny Port (750 ml)

The NV 10 Year Old Tawny Port was bottled in 2014 with 105.23 grams per liter of residual sugar. Easily the 10 with the most weight in the Fladgate group's lineup this issue, it is a rather powerful 10 year old Tawny with plenty of pop, the biggest and baddest of the trio (Fonseca, Croft and this). There is very fine concentration of flavor for a 10 year old Tawny. If I had a quibble, the alcohol shows at times, especially early on and rather notably when drunk a little too warm. (Around 60 degrees Fahrenheit is a lot better than room temperature most of the time, to be sure, not just here.) Overall, the weight, complexity, mouth feel and grip on the finish still make this my favorite of the group of 10s submitted by Taylor Fladgate this issue, although it's close and there are some pros and cons. This comes with a bar top cork, i.e., not intended to be aged (although it most certainly can hold a couple of decades barring cork failures). - Mark Squires

This ivery complete aged tawny has all the right nuts and fruit characters that show a Port that still looks back to its fruity origins. The style is ripe, full and sweet, a mellow wine that only hints at the spirit behind it. ROGER VOSS