John G.

Avis écrits : 14 (see reviews)

Note moyenne attribuée : 78

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Biographie :

Regular contributor to Malt Review. WSET Spirits Level 2 Enthusiastic about all spirits but for vodka. Whisky is my 1st love but I'm currently enjoying my affair with rum, brandy and Mezcal.

One of the best VS out there

71 /100

The color makes me think of honey.

With its relative accessibility and being fully family-owned, I see this Cognac house as sort of the Springbank of the category. The brand uses grapes from other regions. But it also uses grapes just from it's home base of the Borderies subregion in Cognac. I've become a quick fan of their distilling on the lees which result in a huge amount of fruity flavors.

On the nose: Immediately some rancio. I smell it in the form of medium intensity dried shiitake mushrooms and leather. With it are lighter but longer lasting aromas of honey, flower bouquet, ripe fresh peaches, Mandarin orange and dried apricots. At the “outskirts” of the aromas are subtle enveloping dried shiitake mushrooms and the tail end aromas of mangoes and Fuji apples.

In the mouth: The rancio isn’t as bold as on the nose. I still get floral notes like honey, ripe fresh peaches, Mandarin oranges, Fuji apples and dried apricots are light but bolder and longer lasting. At the end are subtle and quick tastes of Taiwanese pineapple cakes, cherry-flavored hard candy and dried mangoes.

Conclusion: There’s no alcoholic bite on either the nose or in the mouth. Offensive flavors and sensations are non-existent. Distilled on the lees or not, this is a fruit and floral bomb. Pretty intense floral and fruitiness too despite the abv.

The nose has a big and bold start but it consistently falls off. The blending of this seems to be genius with the necessary toning down of the rancio notes in the mouth. After all, most consumers will find the rancio taste to be unfamiliar. Thus, it will be unwelcomed and most likely seen as a fault.