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.

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.

Chateau de Lacquy 1947 (bottled 1970s)

Chateau de Lacquy 1947 (bottled 1970s)

Brandy: Armagnac
From: Bas Armagnac
House: Chateau de Lacquy
Style: Single distillery, single vintage
Colour: Amber red
ABV: 44%

N: Malted milk, leather, prunes, coffee, butterscotch

M: Medium body, slippery, loosens, cool

T: Sweet salty. Prunes, leather, sea salt, Japanese ume, coffee, jasmine tea, lemon juice

F: Long. Raisins, prunes, Japanese ume, coffee, hints of chocolate

Comments:

Sometimes, I get very, very lucky. There was a smidgen of this spirit available at a reasonable price. It's the oldest spirit I have ever tasted, and what a privilege it was!

The classic prune notes of Armagnac stand out, of course, but it's married to old leather and coffee, and heaps of complex savoury notes. The leather and coffee don't have the slight cheesiness of what one might call rancio, instead, they're gentle, complementing the harder to analyse savoury notes. Those come in the second layer of flavour, intensifying and almost replacing the prune notes. These are a combination of sea salt, some floral jasmine, and salty preserved Japanese plum, or ume.

The last was familiar. I've had Chateau de Lacquy before, and I'll dig out that old tasting note and republish it here.

Verdict:

Magnificent.