L’Encantada Lous Mouracs 1979 Armagnac 50.6%
This review is the result of free samples…FREE SAMPLES! To quote Steve Martin in The Jerk, “I’m somebody now.” Well, probably not, but its always cool to receive free stuff (what American doesn’t love Costco for that exact reason). I swear I’m not going to let that bias my opinion, however.
A few quick tidbits of info before the review. One, this spirit is insanely dark…probably one of the darkest spirits I’ve had (similar to the old Velier rums). Two, the importer / distro (PM Spirits) notes are posted below.
With that out of the way, to the opinions!
Justin’s notes:
N: nutty and sweet, some metallic notes show up with some blood orange citrus, too
P: walnuts, walnuts, and more walnuts...but not just the nuts, you get the bitter walnut skin...carob, ruby red grapefruit rind...beyond that oak, cigar box (like when you can taste smells), and a little raisiny sweetness
F: long, creamy...delicious
Justin’s grade: A. Easy A. Easy easy easy A. I Love it and glad I bought 3. History will remember this era of brandy as the golden era and this bottling is just another example of such. I hope they keep coming but I know they won’t, and I smile a little knowing people spend $1,000 plus on scotch / bourbon (cough cough Pappy cough) while I spend half that on multiples of bottles like this. Justified smugness I guess.
Ryan’s Notes:
Nose: Big cherry notes, walnuts, exotic woods. Lots of what I’d call sugary oak (as opposed to drying oak).
Taste: Sugary plums, currants, cherry jolly ranchers. Thick brown sugar. There’s a medicinal sweetness. Manuka honey. Toasted walnut oil. Adding to the medicinal profile are those awesome lacquer notes you get with the right kind of cask aging. We’re still swimming in oaky sugars, but it’s never drying. The balance here is excellent A long finish on tobacco leaves and medicinal cherry that just sticks around for days.
My wife nosed and tasted this one and looked at me and said “you must love this”. She’s right, I do.
PM Spirits Shelf Talker
“Lous Mouracs was a tiny estate in Tenareze, near the village of Larroque-sur-l'Osse. The vines that grew the grapes used to produce this spirit were torn up years ago, and the owner has since retired. On the 10 hectares of land, Ugni Blanc was the primary grape grown, with a small amount of Baco as well. The estate had two cellars – one very dry, one humid.
This single cask aged in the dry cellar, helping the spirit to develop nutty, balsamic-like characteristics. Additionally, this Armagnac spent all 39 years of aging in new, Gascon oak.”
