Chateau de Lacquy 12yo

Chateau de Lacquy 12yo

Brandy: Armagnac
From: Bas Armagnac
House: Chateau de Lacquy
Style: Single distillery
Colour: Amber brown
ABV: 40%

N: milk, raisins, vanilla, desiccated coconut, hints of damson jam.

M: Light body, loose, airy, astringent.

T: Sweet sour. Raisins, vanilla, damson jam, prune juice, hints of ume, hints of violets.

F: Short. Black tea, cocoa powder, prune juice, damson jam, hints of fresh baked bread.

Comments:

Right, this is my third Chateau de Lacquy, and I believe that I can start to discern the house character. There's something jammy, something savoury (here it manifests as desiccated coconut, and maybe a little bit of Japanese ume, or salted plum), alongside the usual floral, prune notes one can find in most armagnacs. This expression also has something bitter though, like dark chocolate, and black tea, compared to the other two I've tasted.

So how many expressions does one need to taste before one knows a distilery, or a house? I think the answer is, a lot. A good producer will be able to make many subtly different, interesting expressions, whilst retaining most of the house character. On average, for whisky, I reckon I need to taste about 8 to 10 expressions before I learn to recognise the distillery character. For brandy though, most houses don't produce that many expressions!

Verdict:

I like this.