Pereira D'Oliveiras

Madeira

Boal Medium Sweet Frasqueira (bottled 2013, 91yo) 1922

Size

Musky, concentrated old jar preserves lead the nose of sweet plums layered with earth and bourbon wood, and freshened with olive brine and smoked tea. Balsam and old cupboard timbers give depth and relieve the sweetness. The palate has great complexity, mixing old hay, silk, tobacco, tea leaf, resin and fine choc-nut. Full but nutty sweetness and concentration hit a peak just past mid-palate and then slowly grade out and back. Has a leathery, haggard beauty from growing old (dis)gracefully that otherwise only Keith Richards could hope for.