The Last Drop 'Centenario' Very Old Colheita Twany Port Duo

Two very old Colheita Tawny Ports in one release: 1870 from pre-Phylloxera vines, and 1970 from vines grafted onto American root stock after the blight. Two dramatically different chapters in the history of Port — separated by exactly 100 years.

The Last Drop Distillers was founded in 2008 by Tom Jago and James Espey to find, preserve, and bottle the world's oldest and rarest forgotten spirits before they disappear. Their 11th release ventures beyond whisky and cognac into Port: two extraordinary Colheita Tawny Ports from the Douro Valley in northern Portugal, the world's oldest demarcated wine region.

The pairing is historically resonant. The 1870 Port was made from grapes grown on pre-Phylloxera vines — the original European root stock that existed before the Phylloxera louse devastated the continent's vineyards in the late 19th century, destroying an estimated 40% of all European grapevines. The 1970 Port was made from vines grafted onto American root stock — the solution that saved European viticulture after Phylloxera. Tasting the two side by side is tasting the before and after of one of the greatest agricultural catastrophes in human history, preserved in glass across a century.

The Two Ports

• 1870 Colheita Tawny: Pre-Phylloxera vines — original European root stock. One of the oldest commercially available Port wines in existence.
• 1970 Colheita Tawny: Post-Phylloxera, American root stock grafts. 50+ years of Douro Valley aging.

Specs

• Producer: The Last Drop Distillers (11th release)
• Style: Colheita Tawny Port (duo)
• Region: Douro Valley, Portugal
• Vintages: 1870 (pre-Phylloxera) + 1970
• Set: Two bottles

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Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a Colheita Tawny Port? A Colheita ("harvest" in Portuguese) is a single-vintage Tawny Port aged in small wooden barrels for a minimum of seven years — though the finest examples are aged for decades or even centuries. Unlike Vintage Port (bottle-aged), Colheita is aged in wood throughout, gradually oxidizing and developing the characteristic nutty, dried fruit complexity of aged Tawny. The Centenario includes a Colheita from 1870 — over 150 years of cask aging.
• What was the Phylloxera blight? Phylloxera is a root louse native to North America that was inadvertently introduced to Europe in the 1860s. It devastated European vineyards throughout the 1870s–1890s, destroying an estimated 40% of all European grapevines. The solution was to graft European vine varieties onto American root stock, which is naturally resistant. The 1870 Port comes from vines that survived before grafting; the 1970 comes from the grafted replacement vines.
• Why does pre-Phylloxera wine taste different? Pre-Phylloxera vines grew on their own roots directly in the soil — producing a different mineral uptake and potentially different flavor characteristics than grafted vines. Whether the difference is detectable in the final wine is debated, but the historical provenance of pre-Phylloxera vineyards makes them extraordinarily significant.
• Is the Centenario Port Duo still available? Yes — in limited stock. With 5 sets remaining, this is one of the most historically significant spirits in our current inventory.