Gonzalez Byass, Tio Pepe, Cuatro Palmas Amontillado Sherry, Andalucia, Spain

Tasting Note: If you like concentrated, deep, rich oloroso sherry, this rare, four-decades old amontillado sherry is like an oloroso sherry’s older, better-looking brother with neatly-manscaped hair on its chest.

Medium-intensity brown in color, this wine has a pronounced-intensity, aromatic nose of the most concentrated oloroso-characteristic rancio flavors you could ever imagine.

There are aromas of dried fig, dried apricot, roasted-nut medley, cooked butter, dried-apple slice and butterscotch.

On the palate the dry, full-bodied sherry is creamy in texture with medium-plus-intensity flavors suggested on the nose.

The wine has concentration with loads of midpalate concentration and a long finish that last for miles.

The wine still retains medium acidity and a healthy bit of lift that is almost, but not entirely, lemon-citrus assisted.

Bottle Note: For almost two centuries Tio Pepe cellar masters have used the “Palma” chalk mark system in our bodega. Traditionally the Palma mark was used on barrels to indicate wines of exceptional finesse and delicacy of aromas. The more Palmas on the barrel, the greater the maturity of the wine. Cuatro Palmas is an extremely rare old sherry aged for more than four decades in the last four casks of the ‘Museo Solera’. We select only half a cask to create this timeless gift that is now a fine old Amontillado. It is bottled ‘En Rama’ without filtration or clarification. Enjoy slightly chilled. Bottling date 10/25/2017.