I tasted the 2020 bottling of the 1920 Bual when the wine was 100 years old, after having spent 97 years in cask. For winemaker Francisco Albuquerque, this was the last bottling, and the rest (the other half of the wine) was put in glass demijohns and was at the limit, with 22% alcohol and very high dry extract, with notes of old wood, smoke, iodine and low tide. It's intense and pungent, with a volatile twist (it has only 1.56 grams of volatile acidity). It has very high extract—you can chew it—and it stays with you for a very long time. This is also a wine to sip that would last forever. 1,199 bottles produced.

The centenary bottling of Blandy's 1920 Bual is showing superbly, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dried figs, walnuts, caramelized citrus rind, bitter honey, warm spices and nori. Full-bodied, deep and immensely concentrated, this is a searingly intense, multifaceted and pungently sapid wine of immense vibrancy and persistence; indeed, given its protracted maturation in wood, this Bual represents almost a reduction of Madeira, and each small taste lingers on the palate for minutes. The 1920 Bual remained in oak barrels until March 2017, when it was racked to demijohn, and any of the 900 bottles that constitute this release will be worthy of ardent pursuit.

Tasted along with the 1964, this was much better though still not in the league of Barbeito's 1948 Malvasia. The dense, more perfumed nose of toffee and black coffee. The palate has more depth, more supple and better definition. Charming creme-brulee finish. Very fine, although there is a slight bitterness on the finish. Tasted September 2003.

Bottled in 2020. This particular bottling has aged for 100 years in American oak casks and then, from 1 March 2017, in glass demijohns. Only 1,199 bottles released. TA 10.74 g/l, VA 1.44 g/l, pH 3.53, RS 110 g/l, volumetric mass 1,027.69 g/l. Deep mahogany colour. Very very quiet on the nose when first poured. Dark. Smells like cherry wood. Then it unhurriedly starts to offer glimpses of its century of secrets. Christmas cake and cherry tobacco. Maraschino. Dark chocolate. Stem ginger. Cinnamon bark. Salty quinine. The masses of acidity begin to build, in a silent roar. It feels, in the mouth, like a carved-emerald bolt of shocking purity. Lime marmalade. Dried lime peel. Dill, tarragon, fennel, caraway, cumin. The spices whorl up and up and catch the light, as if we've walked into an old chapel and disturbed a century of dust. A century of memories. Sweet but it’s bones are dry and the vibrating edges of it are dry. Firm; fierce yet full of grace; the slender power of a ballerina. Rose petals and pine oil. Agonisingly, I had no time to really sit with this wine. My tasting note simply doesn't do it justice. (TC)

Bottled 2020. One of the most famous wines in the Madeira Wine Company lodge, produced just after the First World War in very difficult economic conditions (which is perhaps why stocks have lasted so long?). Prohibition scuppered madeira's most important market, for example. Over the years, several different bottlings have been released and all are decidedly different, with the character of each bottling dictated by the precise heat, humidity, cask size and location within the lodge in Funchal. There was a bottling in 2006, and in 2011 they released 300 magnums of the wine. The idea is that each bottling of this family heritage wine should highlight one particular family member, John Ernest Blandy born in Durban, South Africa in this case. His father had had the foresight to buy up considerable stocks of surplus madeira. In March 2017 they decided to move the wine from a 1,800-litre wooden vat on the bottom floor of the lodge into glass demijohns. They still have 840 litres left! 33 g/l total dry extract. Only 1,199 individually numbered bottles filled. RS 110 g/l, TA 10.74 g/l, pH 3.53, VA 1.44 g/l. Lots of acidity but it's caressing not aggressive acid. Considerable volatile acidity. Creamy texture and so, so clean. You don’t feel the 21% alcohol at all. Edgy, melted butter on the nose. A very sweet start and a flavour that’s like Camembert soaked in rum. Plus prunes and Demerara sugar. Lots of acidity and amazing freshness. It's certainly very clean and racy still. Very concentrated but not, unlike some very old sherries from cask, to painful excess. Clean, dry finish. A relic but an extraordinarily hale and hearty centenarian. (JR)