Armagnac H2H, Old Versus Young: Baraillon, Poutëou, Charron, Gardenne, Cutxan, Rounagle, Lahitte
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2024
- In which sleepy, overwhelmed, undergroomed Scott takes a break from watching the kids in order to drink eight glasses of brandy.
Last month I did a big Armagnac head-to-head ( • Ténarèze v. Bas-Armagn... ) and had a heck of a lot of fun with it. So we're doing it again, except instead of opposing houses, grapes, and regions we're doing old(er) versus young(er). Context: there's always an unspoken assumption in the spirits community that older means more betterer and younger means less gooder, but that's not always the case; witness, say, the absolutely phenomenal D'Aurensan 2009 I reviewed years ago ( • 'Yak Attack: D'Aurensa... ) as a case in point. Today we settle the question once and for all by pitting a team of four entitled, NIMBYtastic boomer Armagnacs against four brainrotten, quiet-quitting zoomer Armagnacs. Four head-to-heads in order of increasing ABVs, and whoever wins the majority of contests takes the video. Here's how it went:
BATTLE NO. 1:
SCEA Claverie 5 Year Old Bas-Armagnac (Dom. de Baraillon, Lannemaignan; Baco, Colombard, and Ugni Blanc, bottled 11/13/2019; 45% ABV), 85+/100
Dom. de Poutëou 1979 Bas-Armagnac (bottled circa 2020; 43.5%), 86/100
BATTLE NO. 2:
Domaine de Charron 1999 21 Year Old Bas-Armagnac (Perquie, Landes; 100% baco, bottled circa 2021; 48.5% ABV), 87+/100
Domaine de La Gardenne 1976 45 Year Old Bas-Armagnac (bottled by Darroze; 45.2% ABV), 87/100
BATTLE NO. 3:
Domaine Cutxan 2005 17 Year Old Bas-Armagnac (bottled by L'Encantada, Renaissance Collection; 100% Baco, cask no. 33 for 425 bottles; 50.2% ABV), 88+/100
Domaine Rounagle 1967 Armagnac Ténarèze (bottled by The Distillates; Ugni Blanc, more than 50 years in oak casks, bottled 7/2022; 47.3% ABV), 87/100
BATTLE NO. 4:
Domaine Lahitte 2017 5 Year Old Bas-Armagnac (bottled by L'Encantada; Ugni Blanc and Colombard, cask no. 17LA#132.01; 53.8% ABV), 85-/100
Domaine Rounagle 1984 38 Year Old Armagnac Ténarèze (bottled by The Distillates; Ugni Blanc, cask no. 84-3, bottled 7/2022; 52.0% ABV), 87/100
And there you have it, a tie. Scorewise, the olds were more consistent - all of them right in that 86-87 range - while the youngs were a wider spread, with both the highest and lowest scores of the set. Let there be some lessons in that.
Into the details, in order of score. The Lahitte (kindly donated by PM Spirits) is frankly just too darn raw and woody for me, although there are a lot of bourbon fans who will love this style. The Baraillon 5 - and remember, their standard range says "Claverie" on the label, don't get thrown off (cf • Bonkers for Baraillon:... ) - is better imo, and much more traditionally armagnac-like, and considerably cheaper, and shows far more maturity than it has any right to. The Poutëou is, in retrospect, a more refined version of what the Lahitte was after, a Bas-Armagnac doing its best bourbon impression (and it's around the same price, so consider bringing it to your next bourbon bottle swap for fun). The Gardenne and the Rounagle '84, meanwhile, are actually quite similar, being big woody tannic old yaks balanced off with some lovely floral notes. The Rounagle '67, the oldest thing here, brings a lovely bracing sour note and (hand on my heart) might be my own pick as a "house" Armagnac, were it not so darn expensive.
The two overall winners for me - do take note - were the ones just starting to hit middle age, the '99 Charron and the 2005 Cutxan. The Charron is a lovely, lightly tart, lightly honeyed yak when sipped neat and absolutely turns it to 11 when given a splash of water. And the Cutxan (also provided by PM Spirits) is the best I've ever had from this house, well beyond their older '90s stuff ( • Three Armagnacs for Le... ) and even better than that little 2006 I had last year ( • Small Sample Roundup: ... ). Being a part of the L'Encantada Renaissance range means it isn't cheap, but it's reasonable by their standards and well worth a look.
But for value? And for sheer shock factor? Dear viewers, I think the Toddleraillon might have taken this. We might need to taste out more from this house soon...
Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon ( / differentspirits ) -
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The 1979 Pouteou is a weird one-off barrel, the comment from the domaine was "we have no clue what happened with that one".
...Checks out. 😂
Looking for tasting advice
About 30% of the time, both my palate and nose completely fail me and all I get is ethanol, maybe some oak and a bit of whatever the base is, whether grape, corn or malt. Even when I reach for a bottle I know well and from which I've gotten the full experience before. Even just a day or two before. It drives me crazy. Is this just something that happens? Or does my tongue have multiple personality disorder? Any tips to get the magic back when it disappears?
I'd make sure conditions are consistent before assuming your tongue is pathological. 😂
Start with temperature. I find that if a spirit gets above 70-72 degrees F or so it starts to throw a lot of extra heat and most of the nuances go by the wayside.
Then there's you. There's tons of stuff most of us eat pretty much every day that can wreck palates and throw things off: sugar is notorious for this, but also spicy food, coffee, super-umami stuff (soy sauce...). This can also effect nosing, although not as drastically. I'll usually give myself at least an hour after a meal, along with lots of water and a small shot of milk (yes, don't ask me) before I start tasting and that usually helps.
One other thing: wash your glasses sometimes. Yes, I know, but I've forgotten to do this. 😅
Try all that and go from there, I guess? Good luck!
Hi scott! I am finally in the states for a month and i want to buy a bottle of armagnac through K&L wines! Would there be a bottle or distillery that you might recommend?? Maybe something that isn’t 40% or extremely wood-heavy?? Thanks!!
@@권혁근-h6l You picked a great spot, my friend, K&L seems to have dropped their middle-aged Baraillons and Cardinats and Seailles to some deeply ridiculous prices. The Seailles will probably have the least oak, but I'd personally hit the Baraillons. Have fun!!
@@differentspirits4157 Thank you for your opinion! Baraillon was my first choice. The way you said it tasted of mud and lemon was appealing😎