“Mars” Domaine de Pouchegu for K&L Wines 49.6%

I’ve heard a few people say we are in a “golden age” for brandy. I don’t disagree. There are amazing bottles of cognac and armagnac that you can purchase right now without breaking the bank. It takes a little leg work, research, and an open mind with an equally open palate to figure out what brands to explore. But if you are making the effort today, I think you’ll be able to reflect on your exploration and purchases with a smile.

Yet, while we may be in a golden age, I don’t think we are in a brandy “renaissance.” Small houses - the places that have produced the best brandy I’ve consumed over the last year - are thinning. I fear that the the slowly changing landscape will chip away at the elements which currently make brandy the best pound-for-pound spirit on the market (rum and mezcal are not far behind). The increase in contract distilling due to big-house demand...the consolidation of vineyards...the cellar clearing and blending of liquid antiquities by big-houses...the end of legacy distillers...it's all part of a death by a thousand tiny cuts. I wonder if parallels can be drawn to other spirits? Hmmm...

Anyways, this review is of a bottle that potentially screams “golden age brandy” at you, the “Mars” Domaine de Pouchegu for K&L Wines. Domaine de Pouchegu is a small house armagnac producer. The details of this bottle are provided on the K&L site, which is linked below; David OG has a very nice and informative write-up. Unfortunately, the distiller, Pierre Laporte, passed away in 2013. One thing to note about this bottle is that the spirit, which is a distinguished 38 years old, was aged entirely in new oak.

Onto the review...

Nose: graham cracker, Hershey chocolate, rose petals, a hint of gourmet black licorice, and oak...a lot of oak.

Palate: dark, rich, and dense...this is a flavorful spirit. Oaky flavors and tannins jump right out, and behind the woody veil are a bunch of other tasty notes like blood orange, rum raisin, vanilla, coffee creamer, and a ton of other nuanced things I’m probably missing.

Finish: it has a real nice length and depth - it doesn’t last forever but it doesn’t leave after the first act, either...I'll say its medium-long???

Thoughts: I want to reiterate this is dark, rich, and dense (that could be a title to an Ohio Players song, I dunno). A word of caution here: you better be a woodchuck if you plan on snagging a bottle of this. The oak is very in-your-face. With that said, if you like chewing on toothpicks (I do), you might really like this bottle. I’m not oak-sensitive if that helps with interpreting this review. I primed the palate with the Lincoln Road L’Encantada “Le Freche” (A minus grade), and side-by-side, I slightly prefer the Mars - it’s richer, a tad more concentrated, and feels more mature. With that said, I don’t think the Mars deserves a better grade than the Le Freche. Instead, I’m giving the Mars the same grade. I guess all “A minuses” are not the same, which incidentally is something I learned while working as a teaching assistant in college. 

Grade: A minus

Link: https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1390663