1976 Bual Madeira, Blandy's

The 1976 Bual was aged for 46 years in very old oak casks. This bottling is limited to 983 bottles plus assorted larger formats. It has a generous bouquet with a lovely warmth. Allspice intermixes with cardamom, curry leaf, dried honey and light wood varnish scents that become more prominent with time. The palate is beautifully balanced with heart-warming purity. With fine tannins and a gentle grip, this is very harmonious, with just the right amount of spice to enliven the finish. Not the most outgoing Bual you will find, almost low-key in a way, yet you’ll keep coming back for another sip. Divine. ~ (94) Neal Martin, Vinous 7-1-2023

Ginger root and rose-bud tea and tamarind. Exotic and heady and full of red-gold shade and hibiscus sharpness and chiselled intensity. Dried mangoes and a smoked cigar. Spectacular tension running through the soaring silken-flag of sweetness. The spices feel as if they've been whittled into the wine, mote by mote, like tiny red jewels winking through the long, curving, curling age-grain swirls of wood and dried fruit. Red-cherry-bright acidity explodes through time followed by miniscule marzipan kisses and then an electric current amping the finish. ~ (19) Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com 6-27-2023