Almost black with a solid and creamy off-white head which shows good retention and some lacing. The aroma shows the slightest hint of roasted malts, milk chocolate and fruit cake/red fruits notes. Maybe a mineral hint. It's well defined but not too strong or deep. Taste has delicate roasted malts, a sweet milky feel, red fruits and a coffee note. A bit more bright/lively than the aroma. Sweet and bitter notes are in good balance, with none standing out in both taste and aftertaste. Light to medium body with quite light crispness, resulting in an easily smooth mouthfeel that still manages to feel slightly creamy and persistent on the mouth. A delicate/mild interpretation of the style, and sure ok at that.

Quite fine and tasty porter.
Dark brownish color with a fine beige head. Ok lancing down the sides off the glass. Fine intensity in the aroma. Medium + body and a fine carbonation. Chocolate, cold coffee, roasted and pleasant fruity.
[Bottle from Vinmonopolet in Fredrikstad, Norway]

I enjoy (re)visiting a classic beer every now and then amidst all these new craft beers, and this one sure qualifies: after the original porter style completely died out somewhere in the first half of the 20th century (I think the last one dates from the 1940s, if I’m not mistaken), Samuel Smith was the first brewery to resurrect it in 1979 with this Taddy Porter, named after Tadcaster and fermented in the traditional ’Yorkshire squares’ they still use; it sparked a renewed interest in the style, first in England, then in the US and eventually in all other countries where craft beer is cultivated. All the imperial, smoked, chili and other variants coming from that are to a certain extent indebted to this one, so it is no exaggeration to call it a historically influential beer, I think. It has a medium sized, moussy, pale greyish beige, quite dense head breaking open soon in the middle but otherwise retaining well, and a very deep, beautiful burgundy colour, almost blackish but still fully translucent, with a hue of very old, brownish red wine. Pleasant aroma of roasted peanuts, cashew nuts, toasted bread, caramelized sugar (but not overly sweet), moist cardboard, dried fig, dry tea bag, rosehip-like ’botanical iron’, vague earthy turnip or radish somewhere as well as a subtle, but seductive pear syrup sweetness appearing when the beer warms up. Restrained sweetish and sourish onset of dried fruit (fig, dried apple peel, hint of raisin), medium carbonation sparkling very gently on the tongue, very supple, lean body, not too thick as can be expected from a 5% ABV beer but still filling due to well-dosed malts, with a sweetish nuttiness quickly accompanied by a drying, coffee grounds-like roasted bitterness, which, as should be the case in any porter, remains subtle enough not to become too stout-like, and so does not entirely cover the initial, softer, nutty and caramelly sweetishness. A slight metallic feeling appears as well but feels ’natural’ and does not bother me at all. Finish adds a brief ’pinprick’ of notably peppery hops blending in very well with the lingering coffee grounds-like bitterness; along with this nutty, rounded, satisfyingly restrained malt sweetness, both bittering components linger on the root of the tongue after swallowing and once they fade away, the sweetness faintly returns... Very enjoyable beer, justly a famous English classic; flavour balance is perfect and although it sure harbors some coffee-like roasted bitterness, quite aromatically so and lingering in the mouth for quite a while, it is still nutty and ’sweetish’ enough to be a classic porter. I can easily imagine how this type of beers once gave rise to the stout family and I think this is the ideal porter to start with if you are curious about the style and haven’t had any other one before. Taddy Porter is to porter what Saison Dupont is to saison, or Westmalle Tripel to tripel: classic in every respect, but respectable in its class.

Bottle from Cotteridge Wines; dark brown pour with a frothy light tan head, aroma has dark malts with some sweet chocolate, taste has chocolate, dark fruits, some coffee, decent.

Rated from old notes. Aroma is very much like a wine. Rather sweet with a spritzy wine/brandy undertone. Settles into a well balanced, full-bodied drink with a slight sourness, with the malts becoming more evident as you progress. Quite good. 8/3/7/4/15 3.7 Rerate: 04/2018: Guess my tastes have changed in the last 20 years. The overly carbonated palate is quite jarring. Weak and not much like my modern concept of a porter.

Za wodnisty i umiarkowany troche...

Pour from bottle into 4 oz taster. Aroma is sweet roasted malts with molasses, chocolate. Appearance is dark brown/black with minimal head. Taste is similar to aroma. Palate is medium bodied with average texture and soft carbonation. Overall, true to the style with a little individual wrinkle to the molasses side. Good.

550ml bottle from Cambridge Wine Merchants, Kings Parade. Dark brown with quickly disappearing tan head. Carbonation is very lively. Brown sugar, milk chocolate, roasted malt. Slight metallic smell. Very sweet taste with a small bit of bitter in the finish. Balanced finish with cocoa on the aftertaste. Full body with massive tickly carbonation. Pretty darn good.

Bottle. Roasted malts, liquorice and some chocolate. Mild bitterness and moderate sweetness. Dry.

Bottle. Pitch black, with a large, frothy, tan head that refuses to fully dissipate. The nose is bittersweet chocolate, light coffee, toasted oak, with some caramel and anise. Nice, sweet and roasty flavor, with a nice touch of bitterness in the finish that keeps it from being cloying. Medium body, creamy, a little thin, and lightly acidic. This is a well balanced, flavorful and easy porter. Not overly complex, thick, or aggressive, but quietly tasty.