Brillet Tres Rare "Heritage" Grande Champagne 45% Brut de Frut

Brillet is a small family-owned grower/producer located in Grande Champagne. Their vineyard is 150 acres and the property runs into the Petite Champagne growing region. They have been around since the 1600s and that is about it. Their website says “a refreshed website is coming” and has a picture of their estate (which looks gorgeous by the way). I wonder how long the refresh has been in the works, and given the patience of cognac producers, how long are we going to have to wait?

I found the Heritage for a little over $250 online so I gathered a couple friends and we did a bottle split. A 50-year-old cognac at (or near cask strength) for $250sh – sign me up! A few commercial reviewers gave the Heritage a little love…Paul Pacult gave it 5 stars…Wine Enthusiast gave it a 96-100pts and said it smelled of marzipan and tasted like dark caramel, vanilla, butter, and cream. I love marzipan, dark caramel, vanilla, butter, and cream! What could go wrong?

So on to the review…

Nose: musty oak, salt water taffy, blackberry jam, and some faint floral notes in the background

Taste: rich and dark, the caramel is definitely there but not intense, sweet crème, fudge, candied pecans, some of that dark chocolate bitterness, and some light earthen-like qualities (think leather but I really hate saying leather cause who eats leather?)

Finish: beautifully long

Thoughts
It’s good. I might have to snag one or two for the bunker. I used a Lheraud I gave an A minus for benchmarking and comparison. I slightly preferred the palate for the Lheraud but the finish on the Brillet is fantastic…and both are great overall. With that in mind, I’ll give this an…

Grade: A minus

Lhéraud 1974/2018 Grande Champagne 49% - 44 years old

Ryan's Notes

Ryan's Review

Well, here we have another Lhéraud. A continually impressive house, both in their stunning vintage bottles, as well as the excellent XO Charles VII blend. Price on these vintage selectiosn is high, but so far the quality has continued to match the price. When Justin shared the 1974 vintage he had open I was a big fan and so decided to seek out another '74. This one was bottled just in February of this year, making it about 44 years old. Bottled at 49%.

Nose: Immediately rich nose, almost port-like. We have honey and plums. There's some heavier notes of tobacco and coffee. Old books and a little bit of polished oak.

Taste: Quite like the nose. Peaches and plums. Blueberry. Sweet citrus. Cream. Moves into a heavy coffee liqueur. Thick wildflower honey seems to coat the whole palate.

Finish: Delicate herbal bitters - propolis stands out. Bee pollen. A resinous quality to the flavors, it's almost medicinal. But, this is good, it's very good. Smoked spices. Orange zest. Some wood polish.  Nectar-like sweetness lingers throughout the finish.

This is an impeccable spirit. Great balance of sweetness and all those complex herb and spice notes.  I'm showing my bias here, but I just love when an old spirit is able to showcase the cask without becoming astringent and woody.  Some of these older cognacs do it very well. Lively on the palate, and the finish is a highlight. It is not tired by any stretch, and tastes as if it could have spent another 40 years in the cask. 


A

L'Encantada Domaine "Le Freche" 1988 29 Year 52%

L’Encantada is sprawling right now, both in geographical distribution and producers bottled. Here’s a 29 year “Le Freche” that was bottled for Lincoln Road in Mississippi (great store and owner by the way). The label has the word "Domaine" before Le Freche – from my understanding Le Freche is an area located in the Armagnac region (wiki calls it a “commune” which is analogous to a township or municipality). SKU’s old site shows multiple producers producing in the “Le Freche” area (link below), so I guess when L’Encantada puts “Le Freche” on the bottle it could come from any one of several sources.

On to the review…

Nose: unmistakably Armagnac…ripe grapes and oak…hazelnut, cherry, and some baking spices

Palate: oak, caramel, grapes, and raisins…a little effervescent and cherry cola-like...then some light pink grapefruit and white chocolate in the background

Finish: great finish with great length…just lingers for minutes.

Thoughts

This is fantastic Armagnac. Everyone gets caught up with the Pibous, but I like this more than most of the Pibous I’ve had. It has one foot in bourbon and the other foot in heavily-sherried scotch (like a Glendronach single cask). Like I said before, it’s unmistakably Armagnac but I also feel like this one has mass appeal. Great job with this one L’Encantada (and Lincoln Road). This is an easy…

Grade: A minus

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