A few cognacs and armagnacs just for fun


June 8, 2025

A word of caution
Let me please remind you that my humble assessments of any spirits are done from the point of view of a malt whisky enthusiast who, what's more, is aboslutely not an expert in rum, brandy, tequila, vodka, gin or any other spirits. Thank you – and peace!

A few cognacs and armagnacs just for fun

For once, we’re going to mix cognacs and armagnacs, it’ll save us from waiting too long for certain new releases. But to start with, a little aperitif…

Rémy Martin advertisement, mid-1960s – back when there was still an effort to educate the consumer a little.

Remy Martin ‘V.S.O.P. Qualité du Centaure’ (40°, OB, Fine Champagne, +/-1965)

Let’s see whether the 40%, or rather 40°, managed to help this charming bottle hold its ground all these years. Let us remember that ‘fine champagne’ is a blend of the two champagnes (grande and petite). Colour: amber. Nose: still very fresh, very classical in style, essentially on dried grapes and a few stalks, honey, and here some notes of mint tea that may have come from bottle ageing. A few touches of vegetable stock bolster that impression. Mouth: it’s really become quite dry on the palate, a bit like an old sweet wine that has eaten up its sugars. It’s not unpleasant, provided one likes black tea, liquorice wood and dark chocolate. Finish: not so short after all, still mentholated and even slightly salty. A bit of pear eau-de-vie in the aftertaste. Comments: an interesting old Rémy to taste, the famous centaur seems to have had rather decent taste.
SGP:361 - 81 points.

Cognac ‘Lot 74’ (40.64%, Malternative Belgium for Passion for Whisky, 2024)

An old demijohn from a bouilleur de cru in Criteuil-la-Magdeleine, near Segonzac. Should be a grande champagne. Colour: amber. Nose: entertaining start on pistachio cream and fresh strawberries, before the more expected peaches and figs start to make themselves heard. Small touches of rosehip and hawthorn, as well as two or three drops of chicory coffee, slightly caramelised. It isn’t tired at all despite the very low strength, though I’d almost swear there’s a tiny bit of old bottle effect. Mouth: it’s true that you do find the style of old Rémy Martin here, only with more complexity and fruit that still feels... alive. A few touches of old honey, slightly fermented, black tea, bitter chocolate, a hint of clove… Finish: stewed fruits, honey, a little cinnamon, and notes of old wood and pine needles. Comments: delicate, a little ‘in its own juice’ like a vintage car. Loads of charm, really.
SGP:461 - 87 points.

Darroze ‘Domaine de Busquet’ 1999/2025 (49.5%, Journal des Kirsch, Kirsch Import, bas-armagnac)

This one’s pure baco. Colour: dark red amber. Nose: it’s always interesting to taste a fine armagnac after a good cognac—here it’s more earthy, more on tobacco and undergrowth, but also freshly sawn fir wood, dry-cured ham, and prunes (which pair splendidly with the ham, naturally)… Mouth: same thoughts, word for word, only with a little more strong liquorice and a firmer tannic backbone that makes the whole thing more rustic, which suits us just fine. I’d have rather said an older Ténarèze with rather pretty acidity. The coniferous side is quite prominent too, and that’s very much to our liking. Finish: long, fairly resinous, and above all deeply country-style. Comments: all in all, this is an armagnac that’s very ‘armagnac’. Why would we complain, it’s excellent and therefore… authentic (excuse me?)
SGP:461 - 90 points.

Jean-Luc Pasquet 53 yo ‘Lot 71’ (55.5%, Maltbarn, grande champagne, 2025)

JL Pasquet, among the malternative cognacs, is a bit like the Porsche of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Do with that comparison what you will (Mr and Mrs Pasquet, I’m available for comment). Colour: honey amber. Nose: here comes that famously precise fruitiness, with peaches and honey-poached pears, honeysuckle, sweet liquorice, quince paste, and the faintest mentholated touches… With water: earthy soils, greenhouse, grape must… Mouth (neat): it’s brilliant to find this kind of bottling strength in a fine cognac; believe me, it’s not that common in France. Stewed fruits enhanced with marc, vineyard peaches of course, dark tobacco, a slightly waxy edge… With water: liquorice returns, along with soil, pine nuts… Finish: long, more mentholated, but raisins stand watch in the aftertaste. Comments: a magnificent counterpart to the Darroze/Kirsch, at the opposite end of the spectrum, yet at the same level of quality. Well, in my view.
SGP:651 - 90 points.

Domaine Saint Martin 1992/2025 (54.5%, Le Passeur, bas armagnac, cask #63)

From the oldest mobile still in the entire Armagnac region! This is pure baco from the ‘fauve sands’, which date back to the Middle Miocene, if you really want to know. Colour: deep gold. Nose: this acts a little like a bridge between the great cognacs and the great armagnacs, and it’s quite beautiful. There’s that fruity ham note again, a few ashes (cigar), candlewax, fresh mushrooms, undergrowth, and some marc de Bourgogne… With water: a little cooked wine, walnut wine… Mouth (neat): it’s powerful, quite mentholated and herbal, spicy, almost a tad rough (peach skin), with fine tannins and always that slight touch of marc. We’ll have to do a little marc session one day. With water: not much change, still very rustic and country-style. Finish: rather long and, as usual, fairly liquoricy. Comments: we had a sister cask at WF 90, and this one’s very close. Top-notch armagnac, though I must admit it actually gets trickier when you start mixing armagnacs and cognacs in the same session.
SGP:561 - 89 points.

Armagnac du Collectionneur 1870/1986 (42.8%, Ryst-Dupeyron)

That’s right, 1870—it’s not a typo. The house of Dupeyron or Ryst-Dupeyron, négociant-maturers based in Condom in the Gers, has long specialised in vintage armagnacs, sometimes remarkably ancient ones such as this. Note that it was already 115 years old when bottled, though who knows how much of that time it actually spent in wood. It’s impossible to say, but according to the house, the ‘du Collectionneur’ range gathers the firm’s single casks. Colour: dark amber. Nose: it’s entirely ‘transcategory’, with notes of palo cortado, armagnac of course, very old calvados, old Speyside, walnuts, pecans, aged plums, boot polish, encaustic wax, dried dates, antique coffee liqueur, puffs of long-forgotten attic, balms, cherry stems, hints of brine… Isn’t the whole world in there? All that’s missing is gunpowder. Mouth: the same joyful jumble returns, though it’s drier now and more clearly on old solera wines—amontillado, Madeira, Marsala… There’s even some ancient passito that’s turned salty, and old Catalan rancio too… Then it becomes slightly dusty, which oddly reassures one of the vintage’s authenticity, harvested in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War and perhaps distilled just after it (19 July 1870 – 28 January 1871). Finish: fairly long, magnificent, saline, with superb resinous and brothy notes, and quite pronounced parsley with a majestic umami. Comments: and meanwhile we Alsatians were being conquered by Otto von Bismarck and the German Empire, only to become French again in 1918. At any rate, what an extraordinary bottle.
SGP:472 - 92 points.

Come on now, you're either Alsatian or you're not… After all, this too is a proper ‘French brandy’:

Marc de Gewurztraminer 1976/2016 (63.1%, Léonard et Olivier Humbrecht à Turckheim, 370 bottles)

You know what a marc is: it’s the grape skins and pips (and some remaining juice) left after pressing, fermented then distilled. Typically, the spirit is kept white (often aged in demijohns), but sometimes it’s matured in oak casks, or much more rarely in other woods like chestnut or even ash (I believe). Colour: amber with red hues. Nose: this is explosive, full of tar, berries and seeds, natural rubber, fresh ginger, varnishes, essential oils, and even, let’s say it, eau de cologne. But I don’t think this baby should really be tasted at its full 63.1%. With water: very distinctive indeed, bringing out rosewater from the gewurztraminer, but also plenty of wood extract and heaps of varnish. Mouth (neat): this is extremely extreme, frankly, on intensely herbal and peppery olive oil, glue, peppered rosewater, cumin… Water is absolutely essential. With water: it’s now a kind of Alsatian amaro, heavy on fir bud extract, mustard, walnut stain and tobacco. Peppery chocolate, still an extreme profile. Finish: very long, while glue and varnish do return. Comments: guess how many times we’ve used the word ‘extreme’ in this note. In short, it’s barely scoreable, and clearly off-category. A preservation score, ‘for the record’.
SGP:372 - / points.
Update: too difficult to score in this line-up context, it’s just too different. The only thing that’s certain is that it’s magnificent — we’ll be tasting it again soon in a session of high-quality wood-aged marcs.

All in all, we’ll have tasted some rather unusual tipples today, and that’s exactly what we love to do at Château Whiskyfun. Promise, we’ll be sampling more weird and wonderful things over the coming Sundays…

Hold on, here’s a last-minute bonus:

Jean Fillioux 1965-1970/2025 (45.3%, Journal des Kirsch, Kirsch Import, Cognac Grande Champagne, 162 bottles)

Ugni blanc. From a well-regarded house, this is a blend of vintages from the heyday of the Yardbirds—what could possibly go wrong? That said, it seems to be Cardinal de Richelieu on the label, though best not mention that to Dumas’ three musketeers! Though in real life, they weren’t actually enemies, quite the opposite. Colour: amber. Nose: loads of stewed fruits—peaches, pears, apricots, plus more furniture polish than in a dusty old library from Richelieu’s time (!) Then come finer spices from the wood, notably black pepper with a shaving of dark chocolate and the tiniest whiff of menthol. Parsley. Currants round off the bouquet nicely. Mouth: the wood takes the lead, which is far from unusual, with firm liquorice, cracked pepper, nutmeg, coriander seeds, that same menthol, and fir buds… It all then shifts toward more fruity softness, more on peach and apricot preserves, with a few hints of violet sweets. Finish: wonderful duality, with both woodiness (tobacco) and fruitiness (marmalade) dancing in step, let’s call it an Argentine tango. Why not? Comments: very much in the house’s polished woody style, it must take quite a bit of finesse to achieve this level of balance, particularly with the tannins. In short, the epitome of the style, and something every proper enthusiast should have on their shelf. Magnificent ‘woody’ beast.
SGP:561 - 91 points.

(A thousand mercis to Angus for the incredible 1870!)