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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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April 16, 2023 |
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Last Sunday and the Sunday before we had a large batch of cognacs, from young NAS (or PDME, pas de mention d'âge) down to the early 1970s. As promised, we'll go on today, while next week it's rum that will be back, if all goes well… Let's just have a petit apéritif to kick this off… |
An électric Taxi made by Kriéger, Paris 1900
(Biblothèque Nationale de France) |
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Hine '*** Signature' (40%, OB, +/-1985) 
Those three stars aren't much used these days, bottlers seem to prefer the mention 'V.S.', Very Special, which is not special at all since these are the youngest cognacs of them all, all they need is to be at least 2 years of age. The house Hine seems to have a good reputation but just like all the larger brands, I don't think they've managed to reach to whisky geeks. Yet? In truth we rather consider them as the cognac equivalent to brands such as Johnnie Walker or Ballantine's. Now I'm not sure they should care… Colour: deep gold. Nose: raisins, bags of raisins, sweet white wine, Cointreau, molasses, pancake sauce, the touches of liquorice. It's pretty nice on the nose, if a tad too caramelly. The colour is absolutely not natural, obscuration probably at the max. Mouth: very sweet indeed, then grassy and gritty. It's not unbalanced, but this many raisins is really too much for modern palates. Loads of caramel. Finish: medium, a tad more floral. Violet-flavoured liquorice, as they used to make when I was a kid, in the 1990s. What? I can hear you! Comments: the old times weren't all good. Some sides are pleasant, though. I'll try to taste some contemporary Hine one of these days.
SGP:741 - 75 points. |
So, we said down the vintages… Well this was probably distilled way before that old Hine… |
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Prunier 'Lot 68/2022' (52.8%, OB for Wine4You Belgium, grande champagne, 870 bottles) 
Prunier's 1989 for The Purist has been splendid last week (WF 90), but let's jump from Duran-Duran to Jimi Hendrix, if you agree. Colour: deep gold. Nose: it's fascinating to try this one after the Hine, because there are some similarities (well, these raisins) while all the rest is different. This is much more on honey for example, herbal teas, a little earth, oyster mushrooms (the pink ones that you can grow in your own kitchen)… Now water should further unlock it. With water: camphor, liquorice and menthol. I'd say there wouldn't be more than the thickness of a sheet of cigarette paper between this one and some heavy Islay. Mouth (neat): big, unapologetically chewy, almost heavy on liquorice, with some tarry wood, very strong honeys (double-chestnut and some pipe tobacco. should that exist). Perhaps more the MC5 than Jimi Hendrix, after all. Kick out the jams… err… With water: indeed, mirabelle jam, but with old Sauternes, raisins, botrytis (something roasted) and more strong honeys, and always a lot of liquorice. Finish: very long, on similar notes, plus some pipe tobacco and, indeed, liquorice in the aftertaste. That's the best side of oakiness in my book. Comments: a real fighter. Water is mandatory, despite the moderately high strength. All cursors to the right! No, you can't quote The Spinal Tap anymore.
SGP:662 - 91 points. |
A little brother… This time a petite champagne… |
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Prunier Vintage 1968/2022 (54.6%, OB for Wine4You Belgium, petite champagne, 42 bottles)
Petite champagne, petite outturn (now that was smart, S.) Colour: full gold. Nose: it is a little lighter, a little less expressive, a little grassier, with rather more fruit peel and green teas, and certainly less liquorice. Raisins and honey are there, though. With water: oh, raisin rolls! The next best thing after a double-espresso in the morning. Mouth (neat): more fruits this time. Amazing and almost jaw dropping, with some very singular mint, close to peppermint, and huge loads of all citrus in this world. Even kumbawa – citrus hystrix - and obviously kumquats – citrus dutchtrix - plus all the liqueurs made thereof. Tonnes of orange blossom honey too. With water: and voilà. Amazing herbs and fruits of all kinds, only all a little citric and tart. Absolutely fantastic, you could almost have this one alongside an old Rosebank, I would believe. Ideas, ideas… Finish: long, perfectly simpler, fully honeyed and roasted. Roasted pecans, peanuts and macadamia. Sublime mentholy aftertaste. Comments: these two 1968s are actually very different, but it is impossible to say one is better than the other, even if we would use half-points of decimals. Exceptional 1968s…
SGP:662 - 91 points. |
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Prunier 'Lot 52/2022' (52.8%, OB for The Purist Belgium, grande champagne, 480 bottles) 
Fully aged in 'old' oak casks. The glories of refill, in cognac too. So this is 69 or 70 years old, mind you. Colour: full gold. Nose: this one seems to have started to diverge, to get more mushroomy, meatier for sure, miso-y, with more pipe tobacco than in the others (all spirit geeks should have a pouch of pipe tobacco in their drawers, only for nosing purposes. Same with coffee if you never drink coffee – no, doesn't work with hash!) We're almost in old-pinot-noir territory. Some smoky kind of coffee. With water: marrows, bouillons, leek, old amontillado, walnut wine, fermented plums, umeshu… Mouth (neat): the oak's a wee tad heavy, but since it would dispatch flavours akin to those of the most precious darjeelings, we're fine. A lot of chocolate and marmalade too; whilst the last 1968 was a Rosebank, this one's rather a Dalmore at this point, see what I mean? With water: fresh fruits fighting back, oranges, damsons… Finish: rather long, fresher than first expected, but rather on Mon Chéri. Right, kirschwasser and chocolate. Comments: sublime too, but the stupendous 1968s may have killed the match, we'll see…
SGP:561 - 89 points. |
Let's jump over the war. Who needs wars! |
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Vallein Tercinier 'Lot 30' (40.6%, OB, petite champagne, 238 bottles, 2023)
According to the label, this incredible 1930 was 'bottled' in 1995, I would suppose that's the year when they transferred it to demijohns, which would make it a 64 or 65 years old. I find the price infuriatingly low (south of a grand!) Colour: dark red amber. Nose: please cease all other activities, cancel all poisonous subscriptions (Netflix, Disney, Paramount and so on), forget about the new iPhone that's more useless than a tomato with wheels anyway (copyright Black Adder), cancel the Club Med in Marrakesh or Cancun, drop the Macs NAS, and buy twelve bottles of this with the money you just saved. De nada. Peaches, melons, beeswax, soft meadows honey, great old Montrachet-like chardonnay, ripe mirabelles, and myriads of smaller aromas, many reminiscent of a beehive. Please remain seated. Mouth: I understand why they would have 'bottled' it thirty years ago, it was about to get too teaish, perhaps even a little flat, while it's retained its Montrachetness (no we're afraid of no barbarisms). Herbal teas are running the show here, the usual chamomile, thyme tea, some cinnamon… Then figs and sultanas keeping it very much alive, despite this bitterish menthol showing up in the background. In truth, it is a little fragile on the palate. Finish: a little short, drying, rather on tea and cocoa. Now honeys, mirabelles and raisins are fighting back in the aftertaste, bringing in so new life. Fab. Comments: good, you may keep Cancun, the nose was out of this world but the palate's maybe a tad tired. I would suppose twelve bottles will be enough. But mind you, 1930, that's when Body and Soul came out. How appropriate.
SGP:451 - 89 points. |
Let's jump over the next war. Who needs wars indeed. |
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Mauxion 1900/2022 (48.2%, OB for The Purist, bons bois, 42 bottles)
I don't quite know what to say. 1900, that's when all taxis in Paris were still 'electric cabs'. What's more, 1900 was the last year of the 19th century. I'm sure this was demijohnned at some point, but no ideas when that happened. Colour: amber. Nose: the freshness is amazing, peaches are at the rendezvous, blood oranges are soon to arrive too, together with heather honeys (different heathers make different honeys, white, purple…), small dry figs (Turkish, my favourites) and the most delicate earthiness. I'm wondering if this wasn't transferred in the 1950s already. It is an extraordinary nose, with even something that reminds me of the best old vintages of Château-Grillet. Do you know Château-Grillet? Mouth: oh! There's some mentholy and liquoricy oak, maybe was it actually older when they disgorged the cask. In the 1970s? In any case, it is fantastic, shock-full of citrus, marmalade, honeys and dried fruits, and with something that would remind me of, wait, let's gather our thoughts… Say Macallan 1938 'red ribbon'. Incredible, there are even notes of old bourbon, ala Very Old Fitzgerald. I'd love to try one of those again, dear American friends, next time I'm over (wink, wink). Imagine, 1900… This is almost like visiting the Louvre or the British Museum while being allowed to come home with your preferred painting. Finish: still incredibly fresh. Imagine those folks distilling this, somewhere in the Bons Bois region, right before Christmas and the advent of the 20th century and fourteen years before going to war. Comments: these spirits go so much beyond anything purely organoleptic. It's also true that the vast majority of these vintages went into silly NAS decanters. Almost makes you cry. Anyway, let us come back to analytical reason: it is an extremely brilliant cognac.
SGP:651 - 94 points. |
Let's push this a little further down the vintages… |
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Très Vieille Grande Fine Champagne 1893 (40%, Héritage des Comtes de Mareuil, Collection XIX°, +/-1980s) 
Fine doesn't mean anything, all cognacs are 'fines'. I believe this is simply an older way of saying 'Grande Champagne'. No ideas when this was transferred to demijohns, nose and palate may give us a clue, let's see… No ideas wrt the mysterious house De Mareuil either, but this was well distilled in the end of the 19th century, exactly when Edvard Munch painted 'The Storm'. Colour: full reddish amber. Nose: rose petals, biscuits, orange blossom water, mead, sultanas and figs. Classic, fresh, easy, not immensely complex but utterly lovely. Perhaps 30 to 40 years old? Mouth: typically sweet and fully on raisins, muscat, fig wine… Touches of sweet meat, honey-glazed ham, more figs, more mead… Very good for sure, but you wouldn't quite know what happened to this great old juice, reductions, 'kitchen work', liqueurising… Well it does feel a little doséed-up but of course, there isn't one single aspect to complain about. Imagine, the year eighteen-ninety-six, that's when Nadejda Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven was born! No, me neither. Finish: short, sweet, raisiny and honeyed. Comments: let's be honest, this old glory couldn't compete with any of the greatest modern cognacs (I mean, those distilled in the 1960s and onwards) but it is still immensely lovely and eminently drinkable. I would imagine Hercule Poirot would have sipped these while going up the Nile with his friend Colonel Johnnie Race…
SGP:631 - 86 points. |
Why wouldn't we have a last one from the swinging years? Just to have something more consistent before we call this a tasting session? |
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Jean Fillioux 1964/2022 (44%, OB, grande champagne, 220 bottles)
This one too has been transferred to demijohns at some point, but it probably remains pretty old. Colour: golden amber. Nose: ooh chocolate and mocha, butterscotch, stewed peaches and apricots, big black Corinth currants, fresh sweet fruits (pomegranates, prickly pears, grenadine), some awesome 'sulphur' (some fatness ala Mortlach), pollen and anything from a hive (just not the bees), then lighter floral notes, honeysuckle and wisteria perhaps, buttercups… This is very, very, and I mean very elegant. 1964, that was when the Rolling Sto… (oh come on, drop that S.!) Mouth: impeccable, if a tad chocolaty/oaky at first, then pretty 'oriental', with baklavas, fig rolls, angel hair, anything containing orange blossom water… You're right, panettone! It would then get a tad spicier, with a little more cinnamon and softer curry, a touch of turmeric and ginger too, then just big fat sultanas and dried figs. Just excellent. Finish: sweet, medium long, with mint, aniseed and liquorice kicking in, so anisette, as well as some rose liqueur, gewurztraminer, litchis… Comments: I'll say it, 1964 was when dear Wayne Shorter (RIP) issued 'Juju'. What a record! This sweet old cognac is much less modal though…
SGP:641 - 89 points. |
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