Decant: 12 hours - Deep red in colour, just beginning to be transparent in the centre, but only just. Vivid licorice All Sorts on the nose, lots of smells (including farmyard smells) but not many of fruit; strange and not necessarily attractive.
Lovely entry; sweet and with plenty of concentrated fruit, a very pleasing mixture of red and black fruits with that distinct licorice undertone but also some of the same earthy farmyard flavours picked up on the nose - I wonder if this is suffering from a very, very slight bottle stink? The farmyard smells might also be described as over-ripe wild blackberries, the kind that squidge all over your fingers when you try and pick them.
The aftertaste is strong and pronounced, dominated by tobacco infused strawberries and chocolate it last a very long time indeed. The aftertaste is up with the greats and is by far and away the best feature of this bottle of port. 7/8.
What strikes me about this port is just how smooth and integrated it is. This is truly a lovely port, but I am not sure how much life it has ahead of it. Certainly it will last 10 years, probably 20. Will it be declining in 30 years time - perhaps, whereas some of the other '94s I've tried have the tannins and acidity to support the fruit through 30, 40 or even 50 years before they hit their maturity plateau. 91 points
TN: 1994 Martinez Vintage Port
Moderators: Glenn E., Andy Velebil