Chateau de Lacquy "Reference" XO 15yo

Chateau de Lacquy "Reference" XO 15yo

Brandy: Armagnac
From: Bas Armagnac
House: Chateau de Lacquy
Style: Single distillery
Colour: Amber rose
ABV: 42%

N: Mint, prunes, Japanese ume, hints of coffee

M: Light body, slightly syrupy

T: Bitter sweet. Oaky, white grapes, white pepper, raisins, chocolate, orange peel, hints of coffee

F: Long. Honey, raisins, kiwi fruit

Comments:

I tasted this bottle in 2009, probably at a dinner party or some such occasion. With luck, I've learnt something about drinking brandy in the intervening decade. Certainly I feel my palate is a little more discerning.

Anyway, I remember this brandy as being savoury, herbal, even slightly bitter on the nose, but that dissolved into spicy raisins and chocolate on the palate. The hints of Japanese ume were distinctive, and riveting, and it's what I recalled years later when I next tasted Chateau de Lacquy. This bottle is no longer available, the XO bottlings available today are, of course, younger.

Verdict:

I like this.