Taylor's : Historical Collection III The Mallet Reserve Tawny Port

The NV Reserve Tawny Port is a blend of multiple grapes, some in a field blend, with an average age of eight years in barrel. It comes in at 113 grams of residual sugar. This is something different—Taylor's normally does not make a Reserve Tawny. Then, it also was bottled in a historical bottle (the Mateus Rosé bottle in shape is close). Finally, it is a one-liter bottle, not a 750-milliliter one, so take that into account with the rather hefty price for a Reserve Tawny. With that price, even taking that one-liter bottle into account, this has to deliver, right? It does. This is an overachiever for its young age, easily 10-Year quality (although Taylor's makes a pretty big 10—so perhaps that is not a good comparison with Taylor's own 10). It is fresh, complex for the style and very tasty, finishing with a sweet edge. The atmospheric bottle will make a nice gift, but it will be a pleasure to drink as well. This comes with a bar-top cork. Barring cork failures, it will age well, but tawnies do not need bottle aging. Dive in.