Roger Groult Venerable

Roger Groult Venerable

Brandy: Calvados
From: Pays d'Auge
House: Roger Groult
Style: Single distillery
Colour: Copper
ABV: 41%

N: dried apples, white grapes, cinnamon, toffee, chocolate, hints of fresh butter.

M: Light body, round, cool, slightly tingly.

T: Sweet salty. Cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh butter, milk toffee, bubble gum, hints of milk chocolate, hints of coffee.

F: Long. Kiwi fruit, milk toffee, dried apples, coffee

Comments:

So, we finally get to tasting Calvados. It's not a spirit that I've had a lot of experience with, but I've always enjoyed what I've tasted. Whisky tastes of grain, but that's normally buried under some layers of other flavours. Cognac tastes of raisins, mostly, whilst armagnac tastes of prunes, mostly. Calvados however, always tastes of apples, true to the original fruit.

For the first Calvados on Adventures in Brandy, I thought I would go for something fairly old. This one is more than 18 years old, and is aged in older casks. That shows of course - not much vanilla or tannins, instead there's heaps of fruit, making the flavour profile bright, and young. There's something salty here, think fresh Charentes butter, only married to spices, and something slightly bitter (yet fragrant) in the finish.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, my only niggle was the spirit's thin body. It sloshes around the mouth very well, but slips down quickly. The intensity fades, but the finish drags on and on. Very nice indeed.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Marquis de Puysegur 1966

Marquis de Puysegur 1966

Brandy: Armagnac
From: Gerland
House: Cave Cooperative de Villeneuve de Marsan
Style: Single vintage
Colour: Pale amber
ABV: 40%

N: White pepper, chocolate, raspberry jam, orange peel.

M: Medium body, watery, smooth

T: Sweet sour. Butter, oranges, oak, white pepper, cinnamon, cherries.

F: Medium, astringent, orange peel, peanuts.

Comments:

This is another blast from the past, an old tasting note that I wrote about 10 years ago. At that time I was a fairly green spirits drinker, and this was the oldest spirit I'd ever tasted up to that point. I reckon it's still top 10 oldest, maybe even top 5. At the time, I remember thinking it was the mutt's nuts, but with hindsight it was perhaps less impressive than its age would suggest.

It's from a Cave, or a cooperative that allows growers to club together and pool wines from a particular area, then distil and raise them to make great armagnac. This marque is normally sold in the USA, and I had it in a restaurant that must have had some contacts to obtain a bottle, particularly one this old.

It was spicy and jammy and sweet, with the usual prune notes mellowing out to cherries. I did wonder about the buttery, savoury notes, perhaps more of a mouthfeel than a taste. It may have been the first time I tasted what's known as rancio. Not that I've had it that often since then.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Martell Noblige

Martell Noblige

Brandy: Cognac
From: ?
House: Martell
Style: Blend
Colour: Dark amber
ABV: 40%

N: brown paper, raisins, dried apples, pears, hints of cedar

M: Medium body, sticky, oily, round

T: Sweet. Fresh baked bread, raisins, pears, dried apples, cedar, hints of cloves

F: Medium. Fresh baked bread, dried apples, rolled oats, raisins

Comments:

This is more 'classic' Chinese banquet brandy. Plenty of fruit and woody spice, with some very interesting cereally hints on the tongue and on the finish. No surprise - Martell is very popular in Asia, and this is a slightly more posh entry level bottling (this particular one is probably VSOP). The master blender tailors the flavour profile to what the consumer likes, and in turn influences future generations of consumers to like this particular flavour profile.

I found it a pleasant experience, not overly complex, but familiar and bold. Not intense - it wouldn't go well with Cantonese cuisine if it were - but the flavours were distinct and clear. Only one layer though, since if you're going to eat at the same time as you drink, you're not going to have time to dig down (although I did try, delaying my dinner a little).

Verdict:

I like this.

Bossard XO

Bossard XO

Brandy: Cognac
From: ?
House: Bossard
Style: Blend
Colour: Chinese tea
ABV: 40%

N: Toffee, caramel, chocolate, sea salt, seaweed, hints of vanilla

M: Medium body, loosens, airy, slightly oily

T: Bitter sweet. Blackcurrants, milk chocolate, caramel, burnt toffee, lemon zest, hints of seaweed.

F: Long. Lemon zest, burnt toffee, vanilla, marshmallows.

Comments:

This is my first brandy from this house, although that's not surprising. I had this at a Chinese banquet, which was surprising, since the brandy served at these banquets tends to be from Martell, Courvoisier or Remy Martin. It's not what I expected, the red fruit and raisin notes that tend to prevail in brandy were almost absent from the nose, and were instead replaced by a chocolatey, caramelly sort of flavour. It was quite neutral, almost rum-like. On the tongue, some fruit notes appeared, but it wasn't quite as intense as some other brandies that I've tried.

Later, I googled this and discovered that it's an entry level bottling available in Germany and some Eastern European countries. The producer seems to have entirely disappeared off the internet.

Verdict:

Not bad.

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.

Francois Voyer Vieux Cognac (for the 40th Anniversary of Amathus Drinks)

Francois Voyer Vieux Cognac (for the 40th Anniversary of Amathus Drinks)

Brandy: Cognac
From: Grande Champagne
House: Francois Voyer
Style: Single distillery, single vintage
Colour: Copper pink
ABV: 42%

N: Strawberries, rancio, prunes, leather, grape toffee, hibiscus, violets

M: Light body, loose, slippery, cool

T: Bitter sweet. Grape toffee, white grapes, hibiscus, raisins, mint, coffee, rancio, hints of chocolate

F: Long. Chocolate, leather, black tea, prunes, hints of violets

 Comments:

A 40 year old cognac from a single vintage in the 1970s. This is luxurious, redolent of red berries and a leathery savouriness that I interpret as rancio. There's also a chewy sweet grape flavour that reminds me of nothing so much as the Georgian sweets made out of fruit or nuts repeatedly dipped in grape molasses. This is amazing stuff.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.