Cognac Park – K&L Selections

K&L recently brought in 3 different Cognac Park barrel picks:

Park 15 Year Old "Lot 15" K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #289 Cask Strength Fins Bois Cognac 42.5%

Park 18 Year Old "Lot 18 - K&L Exclusive" Single Barrel #332 Cask Strength Borderies Cognac 43.5%

Park 28 Year Old "Lot 28" K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #401 Cask Strength Grand Champagne Cognac 44.5%

The Binny’s Maison Park / Cognac Park Borderies 10 year was a solid pour, especially for the price, so I was pretty excited when I saw these pop up on the K&L website. Unfortunately, K&L doesn’t ship anymore. Fortunately, I have a few friends, and even more fortunately, they wanted to try these as well and we all went in on a bottle split. As a control, I started with the Binny’s Maison Park Borderies. Here’s what I think of the K&L bottles:

Lot 15 – Fins Bois – 42.5%

Nose: Caramel, honeysuckle, old leather, eucalyptus, a tiny bit of acetone (not bad though)

Palate: the palate on this one is light, apple, a touch of cinnamon, cedar, rock candy, jasmine, Christmas spices.

Finish: short to medium length, the palate just fades with nothing new

Grade: B-

Lot 18 – Borderies Cognac – 43.5%

Nose: richer than the Lot 15, cocoa powder, nutty, coffee beans, clay

Palate: richer than the Lot 15, too, brown sugar and molasses, sweet tobacco, fried banana, a bit of an earthy character in line with the clay note, I’d say slate

Finish: nice length with cocoa and molasses hitting fading off slowly

Grade: B+

Lot 28 – Grand Champagne – 44.5%

Nose: fruity and sweeter than the other two, citrus, grapefruit, rose petals,

Palate: plenty of fruit, citrus, clementine’s, and red grapes, orange rind, fall hay, some demerara sugar, too

Finish: nice medium length

Grade: B+


Thoughts

I dig the Lot 18 and the Lot 28 – they are tasty bottles. But at the same time, these aren't going to wow anyone (in my opinion, anyways). The K&L notes makes it sound like they tried these at true cask strength. If these were higher proof, they would really shine. If I had to pick a favorite, it’d be a Lot 18, but if you’re more partial to fruity flavors, you might want to grab the Lot 28. Given the price, why not both? If it helps to know where I stand, I might buy an entire bottle of the Lot 18 and Lot 28, but don't plan on buying multiples.