port port port

[Smoken'Gun]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Aussie Port is way to sugary, syrupy for me. Portugal is to port as Cuba is to cigars, but even more so.

Ahhh...Thanks! That's what was killing me...That awful "to Sweet" taste...Ya know, that sticks in the back of your throat, and you can't get away from it...LOL! I ended up throwing a few Ice Cubes in with it. May have to try the PORTugal blends...For the time being, think I'll stick to bourbon.

[JPH]

Originally Posted by tristan

MMMMMM,..... this was a tasty port.

Nice pic.....you a photographer?......made me thirsty for some port (though I have never tasted it yet).....I'll tell you how my raw dawg port was!!

[Tristan]

Originally Posted by JPH

Nice pic.....you a photographer?......made me thirsty for some port (though I have never tasted it yet).....I'll tell you how my raw dawg port was!!

Saying that I'm "a photographer" makes it sound official; lol. Photography is one of my hobbies! I took that picture before heading to the roof of my buddie's apartment in Bangkok before having the first cuban smoke on vacation. That port was AWESOME. I'm not sure I'll be able to find it in the states!

I hope the port you bought turns out to be enjoyable!

Cheers!
Tristan

[JPH]

Well folks I drank the port tonight. It was two of my buddies and me, but only 1 other guy drank the port with me. Followed by another whole bottle of Cabernet. The port tasted sort of like maple syrup, so it actually was ehhhhhh.....not fantastic. I would never buy it again or anything, but it wasn't totally nasty. I was smoking a La Perla Habana black pearl, and one buddy had a CAO Black, and the other buddy (not really a cigar smoker) had a cigarillo. I highly recommend not buying this port...The more I think about it the worse it was, though we did finish the bottle. The color was brown....very odd to me.

I'm looking an thinking "I dont know about this..Well I was right.


The rest of the pics from the night will be in the cigar forum.

[TU09]

Sorry you didn't like it. In all fairness though, most "entry level" ports cost about four times the price of that bottle. It is also worth noting that what you had was "Taylor New York" as opposed to "Taylor Fladget" which is a top porto house (just so you don't shy away from bottles with Taylor on them). Give it another shot with the real thing like a Taylor 10 or try a reserve port such as Fonseca bin 27, Sandeman's founder's reserve, or Graham's Six Grapes.

[cigar_040]

Try these guys out if ya can:

http://www.sansebastianwinery.com/index.html

Found it by accident on vacation 3 years ago. Our favorites are the

Vintners Red
Vintners White
Port

The only drawback for me is my governing body ( .... AL ) and the inability to import this fine wine from Florida.

Try it ...... for a Native Muscadine variety, it's good !!

[mosesbotbol]

Taylor 10 is the cheapest way to get one's feet wet in a decent port. The bottle should breathe for at least 6 hours though to really develop complexity. For vintage, 1985 is not too expensive, and the same thing goes; open the bottle for at least 6 hours, if not overnight as this vintage still tastes tight.

[Tristan]

Nice picture man, it's too bad the port was kinda nasty!

[Lumpold]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Taylor 10 is the cheapest way to get one's feet wet in a decent port. The bottle should breathe for at least 6 hours though to really develop complexity.

I quite like the Grahams 1998 LBV for a fairly cheap bottle of decent port.

Originally Posted by mosesbobotl

For vintage, 1985 is not too expensive, and the same thing goes; open the bottle for at least 6 hours, if not overnight as this vintage still tastes tight.

Would it be worth keeping an 85 vintage for longer?

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Lumpold

I quite like the Grahams 1998 LBV for a fairly cheap bottle of decent port.

Would it be worth keeping an 85 vintage for longer?

Honestly, not to sound like a port snob, but any port newer than '63 is not ready to drink in my book. Once you drink vintages from 20's, 30's and 40's or even 19th century stuff (which all taste pefect if you can imagine that), a bottle from the 80's taste like grape juice. I just split a bottle of 35 Cockburns which was among the best port ever bottled. My friend has a what I think is the largest port collection in America and we drink a lot of old and exclusive stuff every week.

That is why I say to open newer port or tawnies over night.

Back to your question, I do think the 85 is a keeper. I have a few '85 magnums and assorted bottles, but of course, the 77 is a killer- bang up year. 94 is great, but you'll be waiting until the second coming before it's ready (not that it detered me from picking up a case of Taylor). I would go for older vintages vs. halmark years as the difference between an 89 point rated port and 93 rated port is too small for the price difference if you are getting something 10+ years older for the same price. The magnums do age different, as well as the double magnums.

[dadof3illinois]

This is some great information guys!!

I'm a complete newbie to port wine but it's funny that I like the really young cheap Ruby or the pre 80's stuff. The only semi recent port I liked was a Fonseca vintage I picked up in a hurry to take to a party and don't remember which one I just remember it was either a 95 or 96 bottle date (I think)???

[ky toker]

That was the first bottle of port I had. I'm not going to knock it. Might not be the 100yr uber-premium, but hell for $5 what do you want. Would I buy it again? ehhhhn, NO.

[mosesbotbol]

The best way on the cheap is to get a bottle of Taylor 10, leave it open in the morning and drink it in the evening. Serve 10 degrees or less than room temperature and you're golden. Room temp port has too much alcohol to nose and overpowers the fruit.