Cockburn 20 Year Tawny - different bottles?

[Frank G]

Hi,

I recently bought a bottle of Cockburn 20 year Tawny that was delicious. It was in a clear and elegant bottle. But when I try to find the same bottle, no one seems to carry it. I do notice the Cockburn 20 year Tawny in the traditional dark bottle. Is this the same port or was the clear bottle a special vintage (sorry I'm a port newbie)?

Thanks,

Frank

[Paul Fountain]

I don't know for sure about the 20 year old as I don't get to see that one in my market, but I did notice recently that the Cockburn 10yr old had moved from a brown 750ml bottle to a clear 500ml bottle.
I also noticed that the price remained pretty much the same despite there being 250 mls less in the bottle.
I'd expect that the brown bottles you are seeing are a slightly older bottling and you will gradually see more of the clear bottles around. Make sure you compare prices though, as the brown bottles will probably offer better value.

[Andy Velebil]

Cockburn's was recently bought by the Symington Family Estates (Dow's, Graham's, Warre's, etc) and they have been making some changes in packaging. I suspect they've changed this one as well (they changed the Cockburn's Special Reserve bottle not to long ago). I suspect the quality has increased now that the Sym's are in charge of it. As the previous owners weren't exactly as concerned about quality as the Sym's are.