Napoleon denotes Armagnac that has been aged for 6 to 9 years in oak casks and XO refers to Armagnac that has been aged for at least 10 years. Hors d’Age, literally “ageless,” does not carry a specific aging period but is usually applied to brandies that have been aged for 20 years or more. Younger Armagnacs display notes of plum, prune and stone fruit, like apricot, as well as seasoned oak and vegetative aromas. As the Armagnac gets older, it gets smoother, losing some of its rustic character and becomes more floral on the nose. The fruit notes shift more toward dried and candied fruit notes of date, orange, fig and prune. The vegetative notes become drier and more herbal. Very old Armagnac’s display the rancio characteristics of aged leather, furniture wax and herbal notes of dried tobacco leaf. They can also contain some meaty/bacon aromas.

Armagnac : terroir of the oldest eau-de-vie in France Armagnac : terroir of the oldest eau-de-vie in France

Armagnac-Tenareze represent about 40% of the producing vineyards. Soils here are mainly limestone, sand and clay. These soils produce Armagnacs that are strongly flavored and also slower to mature. Baron de Lustracis a small spirit producer with estates in the Tenereze and Bas-Armagnac regions. The Distillery only produces a single varietal offering of its unique Armagnac or on a bottled-on-demand arrangement. Its most famous descendent is Pierre de Montesquiou d'Artagnan, a musketeer who served Louis XIV for more than 40 years and was eventually made a Marshall of France. French novelist Alexander Dumas used him as the basis of the like-named character in The Three Musketeers.

Domaine d’Esperance, 2003 Folle Blanche, Bas-Armagnac, 50% ABV, 750 ml is a vintage, specific cask selection produced entirely from Folle blanche grapes. The company has been run by members of the Montesquiou family since 1990. Castarède, Bas Armagnac, XO, 10 YO, 40% ABV, 750 ml is a bold, creamy and powerful Armagnac with distinctive notes of dried and candied fruits, along with spice aromas of cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg around a core of caramel and toasted oak. There are floral notes of potpourri plus hints of sandalwood incense, along with mocha notes of cocoa and coffee. Though only 10 YO, it also offers up hints of classic rancio aromas of leather and furniture wax. A classic Armagnac expression that offers the best the spirit can offer. Armin and Rémy Grassa share the same pleasure of innovating and have created over the last two years new wines such as Amplitude, a dry Gros Manseng, and Entracte, their first sparkling white wine. Fins Bois is located on the periphery of the three aforementioned areas. It is here that the majority of the wines are produced (42%). Darroze has had multiple bottlings over the last decade so the bottle you find may be anywhere from 48 YO to 55 YO. From a practical matter there is not much difference between a 48 YO and a 55 YO Armagnac, what differences there are will be very subtle.

Armagnac XO ch du Tariquet Spirit type - Waitrose Cellar

Armagnac 2-49_Domaine Saint-Martin 3 travelling alambic that belongs to Marc St Martin, the mobile ... [+] distiller who works with many Armagnac producers. It's name is 'Marie-Jeanne'! Photo, courtesy Marc St MartinThe wines are distilled in a traditional armagnac alambic fired with wood from recycled vine stakes. The 100-year-old cellars quietly safeguard the barrels during maturation. Each grape variety and each vintage are distilled and aged separately for the first years. After several years of ageing in fine grain oak barrels from the most renowned French forests, these eaux-de-vie become Bas-Armagnacs of great finesse and rare elegance. Haut-Armagnac or White Armagnac is characterized by soils which are predominantly limestone except along its southern part where soils are siliceous clay “boulbènes” (bolbena in Occitan).

Best armagnacs to replace your favourite cognac | The Independent

Maison Castarèdeis the oldest Armagnac trading house in the world and was founded during Napoleon’s reign. In the 1830s, many believed in the medicinal properties of Armagnac, and Castarède was ready to deliver to the masses. Bois Ordinaires. In this extensive area only 1.5% of vines are devoted to Cognac. They are found close to the Atlantic Ocean as well as Deux-Sevres and Dordogne.

A buttery vanilla caramel on the palate with a slight orange peel, pepper, and nutmeg spice on the finish. Best Served The existence of the port of La Rochelle and the 1860 Trade Agreement between France and England under the authority of Napoleon III enabled Cognac to grow exponentially abroad, which continues to this day. 98% of the production is exported. Cognac is mainly sold by __four major, world-known Cognac trading houses: Hennessy, Courvoisier, Remy-Martin and Martell. We received a smattering of Laubade releases, including two of its classics and various special editions. Let’s dig in. Armagnac is sold under several classifications, mostly referring to the age of the constituent brandies. Armagnac is allowed to be sold under vintages. When Armagnacs of different ages have been blended, the age on the bottle refers to the youngest component. A three-star, or VS, Armagnac is a mix of several Armagnacs that have seen at least one year of ageing in wood. For VSOP the ageing is at least four years, and for XO and Hors d'âge ten years. Older and better Armagnacs are often sold as vintages, with the bottles containing Armagnac from a single year, the year being noted on the bottle, aged for a minimum of 10 years. Vintages flavour and appearance change depending on factors including the grape, ageing time, barrel used for ageing, grape variety, weather that year, storage location and more. [7]

Armagnac’s For Brandy Lovers Everywhere 7 Stunning Armagnac’s For Brandy Lovers Everywhere

The Armagnac region produces 3 million bottles a year of brandy, compared to the 220 million produced in Cognac. However, the French drink only 4 million bottles of Cognac compared to 1.5 million of Armagnac. [3] Grapes [ edit ] Armagnac is a place in the south west of France, to the west of Toulouse, in the historic Duchy of Gascony. There are sources reporting distillation in the region as early as 1411, but how close this would be to the modern brandy is hard to say. Certainly the Gascons have been distilling grapes here a long time. As with Cognac, Armagnac began to assume something like its present form in the 17th and 18th century when merchants discovered the effects of ageing in oak on the local spirit. Cognac on the coast near Bordeaux looked to Britain, Holland and the wider world, and became a global industry, whereas inland Armagnac would have been relatively inaccessible until the coming of the railways in the 19th century. This article is about the French brandy. For other uses, see Armagnac (disambiguation). A 1956 armagnac—Baronne Jacques de Saint-Pastou The Cognac and Armagnac terroirs, both in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, are located some 300 km from each other; which means differences in the soil. The Colombard expression, for example, offers up an intense, complex nose of candied fruits, along with spice notes of pepper and cinnamon and pronounced vanilla notes. The Folle blanche expression, on the other hand, is more floral accompanied by notes of milk chocolate. Both expressions feature notes of fresh tropical fruits.Armagnac vines grow in fine quartz sands, continental and riverbed sediments and siliceous clay. This terroir is divided into 3 crus: Château de Laubade, XO, Bas Armagnac, 40% ABV, 750 ml offers up intense notes of orange peel/marmalade, peach, apricot, toasted bread, dried and fresh herbs, and dried fruit, along with notes of cinnamon, chili pepper, other wood spices and a touch of savoriness. This is a smooth, full-bodied, mouth coating Armagnac blended from brandies 15 to 25 years old.