The back of the bottle states:
The front of the bottle states"Galway Pipe was named after Sir Henry Galway, Governor of South Australia from 1914-1920. During his term in office, Governor Galway regularly selected his pipe of <not-port> for exclusive use at Government House.
Ever since, Galway Pipe has had a reputation for smooth but concentrated rancio flavours and great finesse."
One thing you notice right away as soon as the T-cap is opened is the sickly-sweet aroma of raisins, brown sugar, caramel and perhaps toffee. On top of all this is a hint of cloves and another smell that I cannot quite identify."Fine Old Tawny <not Port> - Matured for Twelve to Fifteen years in small oak casks"
Colours are orange, browning towards the middle without even a faint hint of pale rose. Not sure if this wine was EVER red. When swirled this thing seems to have a life of its own and literally clings to the sides of the glass. This is literally the thickest, most viscous wine I have ever seen in my life.
Finesse? Well, the alcohol is integrated nicely, but there is a hint of spiciness that does not fit well with this wine. Syrupy.
Sickly sweet - I am not 100% sure, but it is almost like my tastebuds are telling me that one of the grapes used prominently in this wine are white grapes of a sort that would make a sweet white wine (not dry - no dryness to be found in this imposter!) That likely cannot be, but in the back of my mind, something keeps insisting on this fact, as if my palate is identifying a taste that it recognizes from a previously-consumed sweet white that my mind is refusing to acknowledge.
I remember tasting this at my father's house a while back. This is before I knew anything about Port! I remember loving the sweet, thick texture. Now, being exposed to GOOD port this wine doesn't stand a chance. At $29.95 Cdn, it is even rather pricey for an imposter, but I know the liquor store is likely aligning their pricing scheme with the real 10 yr Tawny Ports (notice the capital P and the lack of "<not-"
) I doubt I will be wasting any further money on this. This cost me a couple bottles of decent LBV or Ruby. Perhaps I will be able to do better tomorrow night with that unidentified smell without a precursor to this glass (I sipped a Grahams 2000 LBV which likely ruined any fair chance that this <not-port> had from the beginning. Even an LBV paints a picture that would be considered a classic compared to this.)
Todd