The world’s first fortified spirit drink, created by a Pembroke Dock entrepreneur after a trip to Milan, has scooped silver at a prestigious industry awards ceremony.

Portafortuna XO (meaning “Lucky Charm”) marries 2016 vintage port with 15-year-old XO Brandy, augmented with Cognac and a bespoke recipe of hand-crafted, natural flavours including dark chocolate, burnt orange, rich vanilla and black cherry.

It was inspired by a gathering of friends in a Milan bar and is the first brand in 300 years to create a new style of drink by blending, maturing and bottling the fortified wine of port with the distilled spirit of brandy; making the world’s first fortified spirit.

Portafortuna XO founder Owen James of Pembroke Dock came up with the idea after drinking a toast with a group of friends in the Duomo Bar in front of the Duomo di Milano in Italy.

“It was natural to all of us to raise a toast to good luck and fortune – it’s a tradition the world over,” says former county council graphic designer, Owen.

“However, nobody could agree on the perfect toasting drink or indeed one that was considered to be a lucky charm.

“As we debated it, we hit on the idea of creating one new drink from two giants of the drinks world, perfect for the occasion and for any situation where people want to raise a glass of something special to mark a memorable moment. Portafortuna is the result.”

The new drink is said to be perfect for toasting and cocktails and as an after-dinner drink.

It has just scooped a silver award in the Spring Tasting by The Drinks Business & The Spirits Business. This award follows on from being voted into the World’s top 10 most innovative drinks of 2022.

Portafortuna XO’s recipe and process is well guarded and took eight years to perfect.

Its precise details will remain secret, but some of the stages include barrel blending select vintage port and XO brandy, harmonising the flavours to mitigate their harsher tones, ice filtering the master blend, amplifying selected natural flavours present in the blend, reducing the sugar levels, calming the acidity and optimising the final level of alcohol at 27.5% for stability and performance.

Described by tasters as a “surprisingly tasteful twist on Port and Brandy” and “new and different, a taste I didn’t expect,”

“We believe memorable moments deserve a remarkable drink, and Portafortuna is the answer,” says Owen. “It breathes like a fine wine and is perfect to swirl, sip and savour.

"The head, heart and tail of Portafortuna XO are built on the macro flavours of blackcurrant, raspberry and plum from the vintage Port and the familiar oak, raisin and apricot of the XO Brandy.

“Micro flavours of dark chocolate, burnt orange, vanilla, cherry and Cognac are more volatile and appear and disappear depending on the temperature, the mix or the mood of the drink.

"The aftertaste boasts the sweeter micro flavours and the smooth warm ‘burn’ of the XO Brandy that linger long after the first sip.”

He added that he is delighted that Portafortuna is recognised by awards so early after launch.

“This is a fantastic start for us, and we hope it’s the first of many!” he said.

“There’s much more to come from Portafortuna, including special editions that are in development now.”

Portafortuna XO is available from portafortuna.co.uk and from selected stores nationwide.