The French Spirits Forum- Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados

[BigRich]

9 minutes ago, LCWoody said:

Pick up a few goodies in Texas. 

I almost grabbed one of those L'Encantadas but opted for a '92 Laubade instead.  I'm curious your thoughts.  Tattoo 1 & 2 were available. 

[LCWoody]

10 hours ago, BigRich said:

I almost grabbed one of those L'Encantadas but opted for a '92 Laubade instead.  I'm curious your thoughts.  Tattoo 1 & 2 were available. 

You inspired me to open the bottle tonight. It has Brandy on the label, but does not taste like any brandy I’ve had, (full disclosure I don’t have a lot of background in Brandy), to me it taste like an Armagnac. Very very creamy on the front end, some bourbon flavors in there, and a very long finish, but the finish does turn into an alcohol flavor on the very end, but other than that it is very very good. 

Edited February 26, 2022 by LCWoody

[Marekv8]

23 hours ago, LCWoody said:

Pick up a few goodies in Texas. 

 

Thanks for supporting PM Spirits!

[LCWoody]

2 hours ago, Marekv8 said:

 

Thanks for supporting PM Spirits!

Every bottle that I have purchased that was put out by PM Spirits has been very good. Any time I see it on the bottle I know it going to be good, and don’t hesitate to buy it. 

[BigRich]

18 hours ago, LCWoody said:

You inspired me to open the bottle tonight. It has Brandy on the label, but does not taste like any brandy I’ve had, (full disclosure I don’t have a lot of background in Brandy), to me it taste like an Armagnac. Very very creamy on the front end, some bourbon flavors in there, and a very long finish, but the finish does turn into an alcohol flavor on the very end, but other than that it is very very good. 

My understanding, which is not saying much, is that it was Armagnac that was finished in bourbon barrels.  So that is why it can’t use the “Armagnac” designation.

[LCWoody]

5 hours ago, BigRich said:

My understanding, which is not saying much, is that it was Armagnac that was finished in bourbon barrels.  So that is why it can’t use the “Armagnac” designation.

That makes sense. I started not to buy it because I didn’t see Armagnac on the bottle, but glad I did. 

[HoustonNit]

Interesting discussion.  From wiki I couldn’t see anything that says Armagnac has to be aged in French oak barrels just oak barrels.

[BigRich]

7 hours ago, HoustonNit said:

Interesting discussion.  From wiki I couldn’t see anything that says Armagnac has to be aged in French oak barrels just oak barrels.

Maybe it was the recasking/finishing?

[berto]

Kind of cheating on the spirit front but does anybody have any experience with Distilleries et Domaines de Provence Rinquinquin Peach Apéritif Wine?

 

I’m not a wine guy at all.  I wonder how much wine vs how much peach comes through.  Any ideas?

[WhiskeyBlender]

On 2/26/2022 at 11:17 AM, BigRich said:

My understanding, which is not saying much, is that it was Armagnac that was finished in bourbon barrels.  So that is why it can’t use the “Armagnac” designation.

@BigRich and @LCWoody, that is correct that since the Armagnac was finished in ex-Bourbon barrels, it lost it's AOC designation ( Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) under French law. That said, re-casking the EDV (eaux-de-vie) from new oak to more exhausted oak once it has gained enough barrel extractives is a very common practice, and most quality producers will do this. But for an Armagnac to maintain its AOC designation, this has to be in French oak, which is mostly either barrels made from the local Gascon black oak from the Monlezun forests, or less common, Limousin oak (aka q. Robur) from the Limoges forests. 

 

At any rate, I bought a bottle of L'Encantada Tattoo Series #1 that had been aged for 25 years in the local Gascon black oak then finished in ex-Bourbon. I thought it was pretty interesting, although it had a lot of unoxidized tannins coming from the ex-Bourbon barrels. Has anyone else tried batch #1 as well? 

 

Cheers,

Nancy

[HoustonNit]

Great information Nancy.  I had a pour of the L'Encantada Tattoo Series#1.  I enjoyed it but yes certainly different profile than most Armagnac of that age.  Wish I could say more.

[Kepler]

On 2/25/2022 at 6:53 PM, LCWoody said:

You inspired me to open the bottle tonight. It has Brandy on the label, but does not taste like any brandy I’ve had, (full disclosure I don’t have a lot of background in Brandy), to me it taste like an Armagnac. Very very creamy on the front end, some bourbon flavors in there, and a very long finish, but the finish does turn into an alcohol flavor on the very end, but other than that it is very very good. 

 

I bought a bottle of this Tattoo #2 last fall but I haven't opened it yet.  All this talk on the thread and Woody's tasting feedback makes me want to open it now.  Guess I'll add this one to my crack queue.

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Kepler
I also picked up a 1982 Chateau de Laubade but again I haven't opened it yet. Sigh,... so many bottles not enough time Lol.

[tanstaafl2]

On 2/28/2022 at 4:41 PM, berto said:

Kind of cheating on the spirit front but does anybody have any experience with Distilleries et Domaines de Provence Rinquinquin Peach Apéritif Wine?

 

II’m not a wine guy at all.  I wonder how much wine vs how much peach comes through.  Any ideas?

 

Haven't had this but there is a vin de liqueur/mistelle called Rinquinquin. I suspect this is the same thing. Sounds like it is and if so probably pretty sweet like Pineau des Charentes and would have a pretty strong amount of peach. I would love to have one along with a Cartagene from Languedoc. I have the other Vin de liqueurs mentioned on wiki already.

[Kepler]

Recent pickups while on vacation.  I thought I'd go for variety with the sampler pack.

 

 

[fosmith]

13 hours ago, Kepler said:

Recent pickups while on vacation.  I thought I'd go for variety with the sampler pack.

Nice score!  That one must have been sitting around for awhile since it has a '96 Pibous in it.  It's exactly the same as the sampler pack I got about four years ago except mine has the '90 Parre instead of the ''90 Le Freche so yours is probably earlier and better.  The Pibous and the 20yr were standouts in my pack and the '76 Le Sable somewhat a disappointment.  And the XO 1.0, the one I had, is great as well. 

 

Curious what the price was for the sampler pack.  Mine was $150 but I hear they are going for around $300 now. 

[Kepler]

10 hours ago, fosmith said:

Nice score!  That one must have been sitting around for awhile since it has a '96 Pibous in it.  It's exactly the same as the sampler pack I got about four years ago except mine has the '90 Parre instead of the ''90 Le Freche so yours is probably earlier and better.  The Pibous and the 20yr were standouts in my pack and the '76 Le Sable somewhat a disappointment.  And the XO 1.0, the one I had, is great as well. 

 

Curious what the price was for the sampler pack.  Mine was $150 but I hear they are going for around $300 now. 

$250 for mine.  That's $187 for a Liter, so I pulled the trigger on the sampler out  of curiosity.  Thanks for the feedback on yours.

I'm new to armagnac but I enjoy my other newer XO so when I saw this 1.0, I decided to go ahead and pick it up.

 

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by Kepler

[fosmith]

13 hours ago, Kepler said:

$250 for mine.  That's $187 for a Liter, so I pulled the trigger on the sampler out  of curiosity.  Thanks for the feedback on yours.

I'm new to armagnac but I enjoy my other newer XO so when I saw this 1.0, I decided to go ahead and pick it up.

 

 

Your math is a bit off lol.  5 x 200ml = 1000ml or 1 liter, so $250 for the liter.  Actually, in today's market, that's still a good value.  Armagnac in general but Pibous and Le Freche in particular have jumped in price over the last couple of years especially for older vintages like the ones in your sampler.  Still, 20 to 30+ year old artisanal spirits for $150 to $400 is cheap compared to bourbon. 

 

As for being new to Armagnac, you are starting out right and exactly how I did it; with L'Encantada.  Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I have enjoyed exploring other brands such as Cardinat, De Busca, Pellehaut, Dartigalongue, etc. 

 

If you want to go further down the rabbit hole, I recommend you check out the Serious Brandy Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/440441156130885 It's for serious brandy enthusiasts, as the name suggests, and is a great source of information and knowledge sharing, similar to this forum.  Best is that there's none of the negativity that sometimes spoils other Facebook groups.  It's a private group so you have to request to join. 

 

Cheers! 

[Kepler]

5 hours ago, fosmith said:

Your math is a bit off lol.  5 x 200ml = 1000ml or 1 liter, so $250 for the liter.  Actually, in today's market, that's still a good value.  Armagnac in general but Pibous and Le Freche in particular have jumped in price over the last couple of years especially for older vintages like the ones in your sampler.  Still, 20 to 30+ year old artisanal spirits for $150 to $400 is cheap compared to bourbon. 

 

As for being new to Armagnac, you are starting out right and exactly how I did it; with L'Encantada.  Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I have enjoyed exploring other brands such as Cardinat, De Busca, Pellehaut, Dartigalongue, etc. 

 

If you want to go further down the rabbit hole, I recommend you check out the Serious Brandy Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/440441156130885 It's for serious brandy enthusiasts, as the name suggests, and is a great source of information and knowledge sharing, similar to this forum.  Best is that there's none of the negativity that sometimes spoils other Facebook groups.  It's a private group so you have to request to join. 

 

Cheers! 

Great info shared here, Thanks fosmith!  I may have to check it out!!

 

You are correct, I meant to say it would be equivalent to 187 for a fifth but as oftentimes happens, my keyboard fingers disengage from my brain, lol

 

 

[Marekv8]

On 2/25/2022 at 6:53 PM, LCWoody said:

You inspired me to open the bottle tonight. It has Brandy on the label, but does not taste like any brandy I’ve had, (full disclosure I don’t have a lot of background in Brandy), to me it taste like an Armagnac. Very very creamy on the front end, some bourbon flavors in there, and a very long finish, but the finish does turn into an alcohol flavor on the very end, but other than that it is very very good. 

 

 

Following in your footsteps-- looking forward to trying Tattoo #2…

 

[Kepler]

Picked these up over the weekend.  Think I'm all caught up now with these.

 

 

 

 

[tanstaafl2]

Plantation rum from Ferrand typically finishes most if not all rums in cognac barrels in France. One can discuss the merits of this technique (Not my favorite to be sure) but in a bit of a twist Ferrand released the third in their series of "Renegade" Cognac/Eau de Vie series and this time it is a cognac finished in Jamaican rum from Long Pond!

 

I highly approve of this particular double barrel finish. You get plenty of delicious rum influence as a result!

 

[Kepler]

Cracked opened  a 1982 Chateau de Laubade that I picked up about 6 months ago.  Doing an informal comparo with a L'Encantada XO Texas private pick (Lot TX2020). 

I agree with the popular notion that L'encantada is more in the wheelhouse of a whiskey drinker like myself.

[fosmith]

Daniel Bouju Tres Vieux Brut de Fut Grand Champagne Cognac.  I'd been nursing this bottle for four years and finally finished it last night.  One of the most unique brandies I've ever had; nothing like traditional Cognac at all.  Minimum 40 to 80 year brandies aged in new oak and bottled at 100 proof cask strength.  The color is like coffee.  The nose puts this square in ultra aged bourbon land, dense dry and woody with fruit compote (figs & plums), cocoa, walnuts, sweet herbs, all kinds of baking spice. Relatively gentle on the palate considering the high proof, but very dry, dark fruits and a big minty herbal finish.  Extraordinary!   K&L recently got this back in stock and I was fortunate to get another bottle before it sold out.  I think K&L is the only retailer in the US that sells Bouju but the brand is available from stores in Europe that ship to the US, such as finestwine.com.  If you get the chance to get one of these, I definitely think you should do it. 

[Marekv8]

5 hours ago, fosmith said:

Daniel Bouju Tres Vieux Brut de Fut Grand Champagne Cognac.  I'd been nursing this bottle for four years and finally finished it last night.  One of the most unique brandies I've ever had; nothing like traditional Cognac at all.  Minimum 40 to 80 year brandies aged in new oak and bottled at 100 proof cask strength.  The color is like coffee.  The nose puts this square in ultra aged bourbon land, dense dry and woody with fruit compote (figs & plums), cocoa, walnuts, sweet herbs, all kinds of baking spice. Relatively gentle on the palate considering the high proof, but very dry, dark fruits and a big minty herbal finish.  Extraordinary!   K&L recently got this back in stock and I was fortunate to get another bottle before it sold out.  I think K&L is the only retailer in the US that sells Bouju but the brand is available from stores in Europe that ship to the US, such as finestwine.com.  If you get the chance to get one of these, I definitely think you should do it. 

Everything about that picture says “yes.”

[smokinjoe]

13 hours ago, fosmith said:

Daniel Bouju Tres Vieux Brut de Fut Grand Champagne Cognac.  I'd been nursing this bottle for four years and finally finished it last night.  One of the most unique brandies I've ever had; nothing like traditional Cognac at all.  Minimum 40 to 80 year brandies aged in new oak and bottled at 100 proof cask strength.  The color is like coffee.  The nose puts this square in ultra aged bourbon land, dense dry and woody with fruit compote (figs & plums), cocoa, walnuts, sweet herbs, all kinds of baking spice. Relatively gentle on the palate considering the high proof, but very dry, dark fruits and a big minty herbal finish.  Extraordinary!   K&L recently got this back in stock and I was fortunate to get another bottle before it sold out.  I think K&L is the only retailer in the US that sells Bouju but the brand is available from stores in Europe that ship to the US, such as finestwine.com.  If you get the chance to get one of these, I definitely think you should do it. 

My mouth is watering reading this.  Sounds absolutely amazing!!