Sandeman launches Cask 33 Very Old Tawny

Sandeman’s Cask 33 is a single cask of Tawny Porto that is being launched to coincide with the celebration of Sandeman’s 225 years in 2015. The port includes wines of up to 70 years old that have been created by different generations of Sandeman master benders.

This release is a limited edition of only 685 bottles. The bottle design reproduces the style of those bottles originally used at the time of the founder in 1790 and are hand blown by one of Portugal’s last great artisanal bottle works. 

In around 1850, Sandeman decided to store and age premium wines in its cool cellars on the banks of the Douro River, at Vila Nova de Gaia. The lot in which Sandeman Cask 33 was found was laid down for ageing in the mid-20th century and has today an average age of around 600 months (meaning that the portos were laid down in the 1960s).

Each year the winemaking team taste all the wines on the aging inventory, and when necessary, make adjustments in keeping with the house style.

“This particular cask, from a lot of 40, hasn’t been touched for the last two years. Back in January, when head winemaker Luís Sottomayor tasted it again, knowing that we were on the look out for something special to celebrate our 225th anniversary, he found that Cask 33 showed such a promising evolution and great character that we singled it out for this limited edition,” explains George Sandeman.

Normally used to add the finishing touch to Sandeman’s range of aged tawny ports, Cask 33 was destined for its own bottling.

“For the first time in Sandeman’s history we are launching the bottling of a single cask, Cask 33, due to its superb qualities that epitomises our style of tawny portos”, concludes Sottomayor.

Aimed at wine connoisseurs, Sandeman Cask 33 will delight not only those who appreciate and understand Tawny Port but also those who favour a mellow cognac or an aged whisky.

11 November 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor