Graham’s Ne Oublie hits the States

Ne Oublie, Graham’s extremely rare 1882 tawny Port, is being released in the US, after its UK launch in June.

Ne Oublie Port – ‘a piece of the family silver’

“Rather than offer it all over the country, we’ll go to a couple of very high-end retailers,” explained Rupert Symington, joint MD of Symington Family Estates. The Port is from one of three remaining casks bought by his grandfather, AJ Symington, from a Douro farmer in the 1920s. Of the 650 decanters of Ne Oublie available, he hopes to sell 40 in the States with a retail price of around US$9,000.

“There’s a huge interest in the US, perhaps almost more than England. The problem is access where you’ve got perhaps half a dozen really high-end shops like Wally’s in Los Angeles and Calvert Woodley in DC,” said Symington. “When you have Cognacs at US$500 a glass and people don’t bat an eyelid, what’s clear is there’s so much money swishing around in America. It’s a question of getting to the people who have that kind of disposable income.”

Taylor’s pioneered this lucrative, niche market with Scion, an 1855 pre-phylloxera Port priced at £2,500, in 2010. Before then, Symington accepts the trade may have been slow on the uptake compared to single cask malt whiskies, but stressed: “We’re not in a position to roll one of these out every year. It really is a piece of the family silver.”