1963 Sandeman Vintage Port

[Glenn E.]

Tasted in NYC on 2/19/2010 in a flight of 5

1960 Sandeman Vintage Port
1963 Sandeman Vintage Port
1966 Sandeman Vintage Port
1970 Sandeman Vintage Port
1977 Sandeman Vintage Port

1963 Sandeman Vintage Port

Color: Deep garnet. Darkest (of 5) by a decent amount.
Nose: Really off... dirty socks, musky, some alcohol. Since I'm apparently immune to TCA, this is something else wrong with the bottle.
Palate: Hot, musty, and very dry. Very good tannins for a '63, but only decent acidity. Light body. Fruits seem a bit sour.

General concensus at the table was that the bottle was flawed, so no rating. Interestingly, by the end of the evening (2-3 hours later) my glass was actually fine. The dirty socks and musk odor had blown off, and the fruits mellowed enough to make it a perfectly acceptable drink. It had even sweetened up a bit, but was still dry and hot. Even after the improvement, still last out of 5.