Armagnac is back again


January 23, 2022

Armagnac is back again
As it happens, the fantastic – if a little pricey - new Glendronach 50 that we tried the other day made me want to try more armagnac. You must never resist your wills, you understand.
'1 bottle for 2 good glasses of Grande Fine d'Armagnac 25 years old.' Imagine the size of the glasses back then.

Domaine de Baraillon 2005/2021 (49.9%, Swell de Spirits, folle blanche, 100 bottles)

Folle blanche remains the star varietal of armagnac. It used to be too in Cognac but that was before phylloxera vastatrix. Glad to try a younger, and possibly fiercer Baraillon. Colour: amber. Nose: pretty chocolaty and earthy, robust for sure, with some mint liqueur and whiffs of old dunnage warehouse. Rum-and-raisin ice cream, then many mentholated, almost turpentine-y notes, fir honey, then miso and old walnuts. I suppose that sums it up. Mouth: big boy, even more robust but also sweeter and fruitier, more 'stewed', with many chocolates filled with many liqueurs. A lot of chestnut honey, then coffees, bidis and a feeling of thuja wood. It's even got something Moroccan, hard to describe. Tajine with prunes? Finish: long, on Jaffa cakes, marmalade, and more menthol again in the aftertaste. Some chocolaty oakiness and heavier black tea in the aftertaste, plus liquorice wood. Comments: indeed, robust and even a tad rustic, but this is armagnac. Great for your hipflask. An old, precious, genuine silver hipflask.
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Château de Laubade 1975/2021 'Brut de Fût' (44.2%, OB, Bas-armagnac, barrique #77027)

It's true that at these kinds of ages, in Scotland they would already use crystal, do Zooms and call Prince Charles. This is baco and ugni blanc, so no folle blanche here. Remember, brut de fût means cask strength. Colour: amber. Nose: bang-bang, butterscotch, mirabelle jam, quince jelly, preserved peaches, sultanas, touches of chalky earth and a lovely floral side, around the yellowest yellow flowers. The ones the bees like best. Splendid nose (the bees would agree, although bees prefer pastis – I'm not joking at all). Mouth: flabbergasting earthy honeyness, with cassata and just more mirabelles. Extraordinary herbal teas, soft liquorice, a little agave syrup, butterscotch again, wee touches of gentian (hurray) and then a rather soft, although pretty piney and mentholy oakiness. Touches of varnish too, not a problem, on the contrary. Finish: long, a notch oaky again (loses one point, there), a tad gritty and teaish, but then you remember this is armagnac. Comments: they can call Prince Charles.
SGP:571 - 90 points.

In the words of Chuck Yeager (?!), too high, we're too high…

Domaine de Saoubis 2007/2021 (46.1%, LMDW, Version Française, Bas-armagnac, cask #95, 208 bottles)

A wee estate that's entirely in biodynamy, in Ayzieu not too far from Eauze. It is very cool that La Maison du Whisky would make us discover new domaines, thank you LMDW. Colour: gold. Nose: so unusual! Where else in Armagnac would you find sesame oil and rice cakes? And homemade custard, greengages, citrons and acacia honey? And rose petals? Mouth: was this an ex-whisky cask, sincerely? Some kind of lemony and earthy smokiness (pine smoke), malt indeed, more vanilla, pancakes and nougat… We're pretty much in malty territories here, it's almost a kind of reverse malternative. Madeleines. Finish: medium, rounded, cakey, rather mellow. Oranges and lemons in the aftertaste, with touches of lemongrass. Comments: a tricky baby. For blind tastings – and your pleasure. I like it quite a lot.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Laballe 1970 'Dame-jeanne baco' (48.5%, OB, Bas-armagnac, +/-2020)

We're in the Landes now and this is pure baco and ex-demijohn. How much time it actually spent in wood, I don't know. Colour: amber. Nose: roasted honey-coated peanuts and almonds, praline, black nougat, then cane syrup and wee meaty touches, more on poultry than on beef. Stewed chanterelles, Vietnamese caramel pork, other lovely Asian dishes (love them all). Very singular, very nice. Mouth: a vinous touch at first, then indeed more Asian dishes, orange zests, sultanas, some earthiness, some peppermint… Did we already claim this was singular? Finish: medium, piney, chartreusey, a little gingery. Comments: very good caramelly fun here.
SGP:561 - 87 points.

S.Havion-Ehny 1968/2020 (50.1%, OB, HNWS Taiwan, Ténarèze, cask #3-301, 113 bottles)

S.Havion-Ehny is a négociant, which you could translate as 'a broker'. Down there in or around the Gers, some say Ténarèze is the true connoisseur's armagnac, although they would tend to tell you that after quite a few glasses. Colour: bronze amber. Nose: another one that's a little malty, in the sense that you would rather find pastries, cakes, roasted nuts and plum jams. Not that we shall complain, we love this. Say a mirabelle pie with honey and sultanas. Hard to beat indeed. With water: it adores water, gets much meatier, bouillony, with only touches of nougat and maple syrup. I'm afraid we'll have to mention caramel pork once more. Mouth (neat): more a classic, traditional Armagnac, with some liquorice, a grapey side, raisins and prunes, and some earthy honey. With water: the old age still doesn't really feel. Lovely honeys and roasted nuts, with an oakiness that's rather kept at bay. Awesome liquorice and aniseed. Finish: rather long and very well balanced. Marmalade, syrups, liquorice and just a tiny touch of lavender. The aftertaste is a tad oaky but that's very normal. Comments: excellent. Great fun that this Frenchman would be able to try some old revolutionary Ténarèze from an Armagnac house he had never heard of, through some friends in Taiwan. The good side of globalisation!
SGP:561 - 89 points.

Bas-armagnac 1963 (46.2%, Grosperrin for The Auld Alliance Singapore, 2021)

When one of the stars of Cognac would team-up with a star of Singapore (si, si, vraiment) to release a Bas-armagnac, that should tell you something. Nutshell, this shouldn't be just any Bas-armagnac. Colour: deep amber. Nose: this isn't just any Bas-armagnac and maybe I'm dreaming but I'm finding a Cognacqy side to this baby. These stewed peaches with honey sauce and honeysuckle syrup, plus these juicy sultanas. Exceptional floral/earthy development, rather uncommon but totally amazing. Sweet mushrooms and touches of morels and truffles, all moderato. Exceptional indeed. If the palate matches the nose, we've already found one of 2022's winners at Château Whiskyfun (even if it came out in summer last year). Mouth: oh. Blazing oranges, golden raisins, sweet roots, gentian, tiny ideas of parsnips, the blackest chocolates, bamboo shoots, heather honey, yellow chartreuse, a drop of genepy… Well I'm nearly stunned. Take in a hipflask when you go skiing or fishing. Finish: rather long, perfectly earthy. Utterly high drinkability (that's the problem). Gentian in the aftertaste, so even unemployed French wokists wouldn't complain. Comments: que c'est bon!
SGP:561 - 93 points.

What a wee session! Armagnac keeps creeping-up at WF Towers. Au revoir.

Check the index of all armagnac we've tasted so far