Ryan's notes
This release was sold through K&L and comes from the negociant, Fitte et Laterrade. The armagnac inside the bottle was produced by the owner of a small vineyard who decided to put down some casks of his own product. We get the sense through K&L's own description that this was not an ongoing project, but something that was only done over a couple of harvests. Fitte et Laterrade acquired two casks, one from 1987 and the other 1988, and the brandy inside is said to have been aged in entirely new oak and was "undisturbed" in its aging. It's unclear exactly what that means and if or if not anything was ever added to the aged eaux-de-vie before bottling. It's also worth mentioning that new oak armagnac, especially those coming from Lous Pibous and Le Freche, has a bit of a cult following in certain circles within the US and I think that is in part due to its abundance of bold sweet flavors and large mouthfeel. It represents something loved and missed dearly in American whiskey, and that if was to be sought out as bourbon, would cost, at this point in time, likely 3-4x as much and would fly off the shelves in minutes. Ironically, here we have a product produced from a single harvest of grapes in very small quantities and aged over 30 years, and we are able to not only taste, but purchase these spirits at reasonable prices. Below we're tasting the 1987 vintage.
1987 Fitte et Laterrade "La Chaou"
31 years old
49.5%
Nose: Pine, toasted walnuts, maple, lacquer. Definitely a heavier, more "rustic" style nose without a ton of sweetness.
Taste: Caramelized brown sugar, cherry cough syrup, hazelnut, red twizzlers. Again, following the theme of the nose, lots of dark rustic flavors - leather, raw bitter chocolate, roasted almonds, gentian. An array of bitters, but not drying and balanced nicely by the sugars. Some musty oak and light touches of spice in the finish.
Something about this one just keeps me wanting to go back for more. Rich, dark, sweet, a complex finish, and a great mouthfeel. Justin surprised me with a large sample of this one, and it's found its way into my glass with some regularity since I first had a taste. This hits some awesome complexity with those medicinal bitter notes on the finish that reminds me of some of those uber-aged cognacs we've talked about here on the blog. Bitter is not usually a flavor that we gravitate towards here in the US, but it's one that I feel plays really nicely with the fruit sugars and often takes a good brandy to that next level.
In my opinion, this is unlike some of the other much sought after armagnacs aged in new oak. It's not in the ballpark of a bourbon profile. Instead we have a bold, dark and brooding armagnac here that, for my tastes, is one that settles very nicely into my brandy-centric wheelhouse.
A-
No longer in stock, but was originally made available through K&L for $140
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