Any Love for Armagnac??

[BSinKY]

Okay, so I am an Amerikan who enjoys French brandy. We are all strange in some way or another.


I have to admit that although I enjoy Cognac, I also find pleasure in Armagnac. I think that because it is less refined that it tends to hold more boldness and therefore flavor and this is a plus. Not to mention, I LOVE having ABV higher than 40%.

I've only tried a few brands out there; it's quite hard to come by. I'm sipping on some Tariquet 15yo at the moment and it's quite yummy!!

[mora the explorer]

Okay, so I am an Amerikan who enjoys French brandy.

Me too!! Also I've been curious about Armagnac and cognac from Armenia.

[tscollector]

Let me know if you need some Armenien stuff. Since we lost the cold war, we have a lot of "russian" supermarkets in my area...

[BSinKY]

The store near me sells Ararat Armenian Brandy. They've got 5, 7, 10, and 20 year bottlings. Considering the age of the product, they are very well priced. Most of the other brandies are the clear stuff which is not aged in barrels.


There is one jewel of a brandy made by Germain Robin in California (actually, they make several types of brandy.) It is produced exactly like they do it in Cognac (the cellar master is from Cognac and comes from this lineage) except they use better grapes and start with wine actually worth drinking.


I've got my eye on a few bottles of Armagnac at the moment. The Castarede 20 year old is an excellent product and at $70 a bottle, it's an excellent value. I drank my bottle of Baron de Lustrac 1983 Folle Blanche and lament that I cannot find any more. One of the top 5 of all time with that one!!

[tscollector]

http://www.geschenkshop-deluxe.de/index ... tml&page=8

[tscollector]

I drank my bottle of Baron de Lustrac 1983 Folle Blanche and lament that I cannot find any more. One of the top 5 of all time with that one!!

http://www.geschenkshop-deluxe.de/index ... tml&page=8

[numen]

I love some Armagnacs! I've had some very good from Francis Darroze and Chateau Laubade, in particular.

My preference tends to be around the 25-35 year mark for the vintage stuff. The 40+ year old bottles that I've had seem to have taken on way too much wood! The 15-20 year old stuff can be good, but tends to be a bit immature still. What do you guys think?

[tscollector]

Haven´t tried them yet...

[BSinKY]

I just picked up a bottle of Darroze Domaine de Rieston 1983; 26 years old. This was my 40th birthday present to me. At 26 years old, it has a bit too much wood but at 51% abv, I can add some water (not too much!!) I think from this point on, I will look for the stuff in the 20 year old range; I agree that 15 is a bit light.

[numen]

BSinKY,

Thanks for the notes on the Rieston! I figure that I'll just chat about the Armagnacs here.

Darroze really does a great job picking out barrels, but sometimes he gets to them a little late and they are over-oaked. I think that the woodiness, dryness, and strength in armagnacs really vary by the producer and location. I've had a few from producers in Le Frêche, and they have really peaked at around 30 years. My favorite spirit ever is a 30 year old Darroze Domaine de Salie (1979), which I subsequently sought globally. I'm about to take the plunge for some older ones, too, in the hope that they are not yet over-oaked. I had a 1972 Coquillon (also by Darroze, and also from Le Frêche) that was near 37 years old (if I recall) and it was a little looser and had a touch more wood, but still within bounds, and feeding my hope about the bottles of Salie. I had a 17 year old Salie from '94, and it was borderline stellar, and it's possible to get a sense of its greatness, but it does need just a bit more time.

I wonder whether armagnac from certain locations require slightly greater ageing than juice from other areas. With cognac, people say that Grande Champagne produces the best, most powerful cognac, but it is rough in its youth and needs more time than other places, like the Borderies. Generally, though, I think that 20 years is a pretty good point for the sweet spot (to avoid over-oaking and keeping a nice, high proof). It's definitely worth lots of comparisons! Another very solid armagnac house is 'Laberdolive.' I've had a few bottles of their stuff and found it solid.

It's great to hear from another armagnac aficionado! You're 100% on the mark about the explosive flavors in it. Darroze armagnacs compared to cognac reminds me, in some ways, of the difference between a George T Stagg bourbon (or W.L.Weller) compared to a Pappy 20. The cognac and Pappy are terrific and smooth, but the armagnac and Stagg can really blow you away.

Have you had the brut de fut Boujus?