Let's continue on our trip through France. So far we've had a trip to Navarre and dinner with the owners of Bertrand. There are some other cognac houses we visited that we will talk about at some point, but at the heart of this visit to Cognac was our stay with Amy and Jean Pasquet. They were our hosts, our translators, our navigators, and our tour guide all in one. Aside from the pleasure of spending time with them and their family, we did tour their property and cellar.
Things I learned:
- The Pasquets are growing their grapes using entirely organic methods, trying to do their part to be environmentally conscious in an area riddled with pesticide use.
- Jean's father still assists in distillation each season.
- There will be a 100% Folle Blanche Pasquet produced release in the future, which really highlights the difference in flavor profile from an Ugni Blanc cognac.
- Having had the opportunity to taste several different eaux-de-vie side-by-side, two of which were from the very same grape harvest, it is amazing just how much of a skill and art it is to produce a quality distillate and how different the eaux-de-vie tastes in a side-by-side tasting.
- Transparency is important to the Pasquets. On each bottle label there is a code. At the most left is LXX which designates the year of distillation and this is followed by a date on the right which signifies when it was bottled.
- You can pretty much count the amount of producers in the region that don't have contracts with one of the three big labels on two hands. Pasquet is one of them.
- Amy and Jean's relationship building, exposure for small producers, and work as non-contracted growers is important work for the integrity and future of cognac.
The most memorable moment of the entire trip? It might be in the photo below. I think it was at this moment where Jean was pouring some of their Tres Vielle Reserve from their 3rd and final cask to be bottled. It struck home to me just how lucky and fortunate we were to be drinking any cognac, let alone one passed down from the previous generation that was so old its actual age is unknown. A spirit that depends on the success of so many variables from quality oak casks, to methodical distilling methods, to the most important of all, a good harvest. It struck home how it all comes back to the grapes. While tasting through the Pasquet's core range I asked Amy if there were plans to set casks aside for older stock and to start expanding past the 10 year range (a very good youthful and fresh cognac, by the way). I am going to paraphrase here, but the answer was very plan and simple: No, they can't. They produce from what they grow and there just isn't enough to expand beyond the demand of the current lineup (the upside to this is the motivation for the L'esprit de Famille label and traveling to private cellars to find the hidden gems that would otherwise end up in a Hennesy or Martell blend). Another point to take away is that there is a distillation season. Brandy isn't like the whiskey world where distillation goes on pretty much year round, pumping out hundreds of thousands of barrels worth of commodity crop distillate. In the brandy world, eaux-de-vie distillation is only as productive as the harvest that precedes it. So yea, this stuff is special.
Pasquet vines
Tasting Notes
I'm going to go through some notes on a handful of releases here. The majority of these are cognacs coming from different small producers throughout the region that have been uncovered by Amy and Jean and released through the Pasquet label. Again, we're fortunate to have transparency here. The L'esprit de Famille line, if it is news to you, is all about transparency and sharing the stories of small cognac producers and how these unique spirits ended up in our bottle. We'll finish with the most recent Tres Vielle Reserve. The last remaining cask of "old" Pasquet produced cognac. A real treat.
L'Esprit de Famille "Le Cognac de Bernadette"
44.8%
1974 vintage
Nose: Peach and strawberry, caramel, sweet bubble gum
Taste: Strawberry, cream, honey, and then slightly medicinal - cherry halls lozenges.
Finish: is a bit farmhousy, a bit musty, a bit medicinal.
I find this one to be different and interesting in a great way. Not just interesting, though. Also very good.
B+
L'Esprit de Famille "Le Cognac de Jean"
49.6%
"a blend of 1969 and 1977 eau-de-vie from Jean Biais"
Nose: A relatively light nose. menthol, floral notes, citrus - tangerine, a denser sweetness - buckwheat honey
Taste: Grapey, obvious - but there it is. Milk chocolate. Honey. Berries. Citrus Zest. Syrupy mouthfeel.
Finish: Slightly mushroomy, musty. Like walking through an old dank cellar. Syrupy cherry notes. There is some bite on the back of the tongue as the oak comes through.
A cognac with heavy flavors that almost brings you to the dark cellar I imagine it rested in for so many years. Justin mentioned it as rustic to me, and that resonates. Another one that falls in the interesting category. It's a counterpart to the freshness that we sometimes get with cognacs of this age.
B+
"Jean" 1995 / cask selection for T5C and friends
50.3%
A younger cognac from the same producer, Jean Biais. This was a cask that Justin, myself, and a few others selected and at the time of tasting there was one note that stood out to me - chocolate.
1995
Nose: caramel, nuts - peanuts, pecans, spiced chocolate,
Taste: Chocolate pudding, figs, raisins. Caramel. In the finish we have Mexican melting chocolate, cinnamon sugar. Some more sweetness from those figs.
This is a rich candy bar cognac. Buckets of chocolate. No sharp edges to this one. It has a soft and lush mouthfeel and dark sugars that make you wonder whether to keep drinking it from the glass or just to pour it over a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
No grade
1973 L'esprit de Famille "Le Cognac de Andrè" / cask selection for Aficionados
50.3%
A cognac that when bought was originally resting in a large format cask. Upon purchase was split into two smaller casks. The first of which is being bottled for the upcoming L'esprit de Famille release. A portion of the other cask went to the online spirit group "Aficionados".
Nose: Dense and deep oak aroma. Some chocolate and caramel. Figs. Earthier notes of leather.
Taste: Just as dense as the nose suggest. Dark fruit sugars up front. Cherry, figs. Followed by passion fruit. Some chocolate sauce in here, too. Followed by warming spices - ginger, white pepper, and I swear a slight hint of chipotle.
Finish. A strong transition from sweet to umami. A slight funk, musty oak. Slightly overripe fruit. This is all good, though. It works.
This is big cognac. Far from typical with plenty of depth and layers of flavors. Both sweet and savory represented here. Well done all around.
A-
1992 cask selection for Aficionados
61.4%
All I know about this particular cask is that it comes from a small producer whose last name is Brisson and has cellars in both Petite Champagne and Fins Bois. This particular release comes from Petite Champagne.
Nose: Standard dark fruits - plums and raisins, brown sugar and pungent oak
Taste: Very heavy on the brown sugar. Chocolate covered fruits - raisins, currants, plums. A nice tartness there. Towards the finish there is some slightly rough oak spice. Also some light notes of wood polish and bitter walnut. There's a sharpness on the finish that lingers with all of that brown sugar.
This is downright sugary and there's also a certain roughness to it that almost makes me think of cask strength bourbon. It's easy for me to see how this will be a hit with some. I don't find it very complex, but it's an enjoyable cognac that leans more towards the heavy sugars.
B
Tres Vielle Reserve (#3 / 2019)
44%
From Amy - "the TVR is age unknown cognac (found by JLP in 1970 marked as “tres Vieux cognac” or very old Cognac) and 1972 and 1974. "
Nose: It is amazing how a cognac so old can smell so fresh. We have lots of tropical fruits here. Mango, kiwi, passionfruit. Candied citrus peel. Cherries. Fragrant oak.
Taste: This is immediately juicy. Tart citrus - navel and blood orange. Also mango and kiwi. Mouthfeel is slightly syrupy coating the tongue with these fresh fruits. Towards the finish there is some lightly drying oak. Crystallized ginger. Citrus peel.
Finish: A long finish.
A stunningly fruity, age defying and knockout cognac.
A
