October 25, 2015

Malternatives on Sunday, today Cognac

Let’s start this little session with a very high volume blend, so that we’ve got a good reference point. And perhaps a stepping stone…

Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. (40%, OB, cognac, +/-2013)

It seems that mixologists use this quite a lot. It’s obviously not Louis XIII. Colour: orangey gold (a hue that always suggests caramel). Nose: raisins and vanilla, then brioche and a touch of stewed peaches. Whiffs of autumn leaves in the background, which is quite nice. I find this nose very easy, not quite complex, but rather above average. Mouth: eating caramelised raisins covered with liquorice liqueur. Not bad at all, but there’s a sugariness that could be seen as a little tiring. Drinking maple syrup. Tends to become pretty liqueury, I simply hope that the big makers are not starting to adjust their recipes after having seen the huge success of some new rums aka sugarbombs. Finish: a little short, with some tannic oak that doesn’t seem totally right. Boisé? Comments: very, very sweet. Not really bad, but I just wouldn’t sip this. SGP:730 - 69 points.

Frapin 'Cigar Blend' (40%, OB, Grande Champagne, +/-2014)

Sadly - or happily – I only smoke five cigars a year on average since quite a few years, so I won’t try this baby with a double corona. I find it strange to go down to 40% vol., though. The house Frapin’s got a high reputation. Colour: amber. Nose: this is more mature than the Rémy, so probably older, with more coffee, while the raisins got blacker and the earthy side moister. Tobacco (but who needs a cigar then?) as well as a little mint and a fleeting feeling of rose petals. Old style perfume, perhaps something by Patou. Lovely, complex nose, which I find pretty delicate given the ‘aim’ of this cuvee. Mouth: of course, you’re feeling the urge to hang, drown and then shoot the people who decided to bottle this at 40% vol. It’s not that the this cognac’s been totally murdered, but really, after a lovely arrival, it’s going down down down, leaving only caramel and drying tannins. Just like when you’ve just had a cup of tea. Finish: short and dry. Comments: extremely frustrating. I think it’s great cognac (as the nose showed), but the body’s too thin imho. Not a malternative, in that sense. SGP:650 - 75 points.

Prisset VO (40%, OB, Petite Fine Champagne, +/-2014)

VO stands for Version Originale, not for very old. Having said that, this baby’s ten years old, so older than many a VSOP. It’s also very fairly priced, around 22€. Colour: orange amber (err…) Nose: shier than both the Rémy and the Frapin, perhaps a tad grassier, and perhaps a little fruitier and fresher. Oranges and apples, plus ripe peaches and caramel. But it whispers low, as they say in jazz… Mouth: same kind of sweetness as in the Rémy, which should not please a malt drinker. You feel sugar. Finish: ditto. Flabby finish. Sawdust in the aftertaste. Comments: I’d say the price is this baby’s main asset. Very ordinary, in my opinion. Hope VO doesn’t actually mean that, Very Ordinary. SGP:740 - 50 points.

Jean Balluet ‘Très Vieille Réserve’ (40%, OB, Fins Bois, +/-2014?)

This one’s around 20 years of age. Fins Bois is supposed to be a little rawer than the ‘Champagnes’, which might be good for us. Colour: dark amber. Looks pretty natural. Nose: we’re a bit in the style of the Frapin, only with a little more freshness, more fruit peelings, grass, herbal teas… And perhaps a touch of aniseed, parsley, and mint. Some rancio for sure, and a nice development on tobacco and wood polish. There’s even a little smoke. Ex-Ardbeg cask? I’m joking… Mouth: well, there is a sweetness again (triple sec, Cointreau), and rather too much jam for me. Am I cursed today? And yet, I’ve checked my nose and palate, I had thought both were fine. A little aquavit, Kalhua… Nah, this feeling of coffee liqueur just doesn’t click for me. Finish: simply too sugary. Comments: no luck today! But the nose was pretty. The palate makes you want to quaff a glass of Johnnie Red. SGP:730 - 62 points.

Godet ‘Epicure’ (40%, OB, folle blanche, +/-2015)

Made from folle blanche, that is to say cognac’s original grape before b***y phylloxera vastatrix started to destroy the vineyards around 1875. Folle blanche has become extremely marginal in cognac, but it’s easier to find in armagnac. This baby spent 20 years in wood. Colour: deep gold. Nose: not as emphatic as the Balluet (but we’ve seen what happened to the Balluet on the pa late, so…), with a much more chiselled style, soft, fresh, rather on melon and apricots, then peaches and yellow flowers, plus fennel and perhaps chamomile. Lime tree blossom. Rather a feminine style – no, that’s no sexy remark. Mouth: it was about time! No sugar this time, no liqueur, rather a finely grassy and fruity style, with a good deal of greenness, and this feeling of vieille prune that’s far from being unpleasant. Only the thinnish body’s a little more problematic to malt drinkers, but that’s ‘a style’. Finish: a little short, grassy. Green apples and green melons in the aftertaste, with just a little coffee. Comments: much better already. I’m happy because I did not like their white folle blanche at all. This works well. SGP:551 - 79 points.

Godet XO ‘Terre’ (40%, OB, +/-2015)

Some 30 years old cognac, this should work. Again, the strength is too low, but you know what the makers are saying, ‘cask strength doesn’t fly off the shelves’. Maybe, but why not 43, 44, or 45% then? 40% makes you look stingy if you ask me. Colour: reddish amber. Nose: one cognac house, I think it’s Gourmel, is talking about age of flowers, age of fruits, or age of spices regarding cognac. Well, we’re clearly in the age of spices here, and even if it’s a tad soft and almost evanescent, these touches of cardamom, coriander, cinnamon and melon skin work well. Tends to become grassy and ‘humussy’, which can’t be bad. Very light style, but I enjoy its elegance. Mouth: fine arrival, chocolaty, with some burnt sugar and quite some leather and tobacco. But this soft style combined with the lightness make it very, well, light. Some caramel, probably not added. Finish: short, with some black tea and wood spices. Comments: a light and dry style. I think I enjoyed the folle blanche a little better. SGP:451 - 78 points.

Okay, cognac, we need to talk. If you go on like this, no wonder the malt freaks will prefer armagnac more and more! Right, unless you don’t care…

Rémi Landier ‘Héritage Coupe N°2’ (45%, Fins Bois, 2015)

A great propriétaire, Landier. Colour: deep gold. Nose: it starts a bit like the Godet XO, so I guess they both have the same age, roughly, but this one tends to become rougher, in a great way. No it’s no rough spirit, not at all. What’s sure is that it’s more complex, with flowers, honeys, and ‘visiting a chocolate shop’, such as Hermé or Génin in Paris. Roasted almonds, waxed wood, light cigars, sultanas, some dates and figs, then more marzipan and almost putty… But the fruits remain bright in the background. Let’s only hope the palate will be in keeping with the nose, but it’s true that at 45% vol., we’re talking. After fifteen minutes, some stunning g beehivy notes arise. My shtuff. Mouth: what a difference 5 extra-% make! Perfect attack on mandarins and rosemary, then we have lime and fennel, then honeydew and liquorice, then damson plums and liquorice. Becomes grassier, but he mandarins keep singing, all for the better. Finish: quite long (cognac-long, not quite whisky-long), with a few green tannins, more cinnamon from the oak, and always these mandarins that I really love. We’re talking about fruits, right! Comments: this is very clearly more like it. Could we have this at cask strength? (S., you’re totally hopeless). SGP:561 - 90 points.

Vallein-Tercinier ‘Lot 66’ (51%, OB, Grande Champagne, 2014)

Yes you’re right, Lot 66 means it’s a 1966. As for this house, it’s simply my current favourite. And hey, cask strength! Colour: deep gold. Nose: it’s amazing how close to the Landier we are, and yet this isn’t the same region. But this is a notch more closed, which might happen because of the higher strength (you don’t know what you want, S.). We’re also rather more on beeswax, Connolly leather polish, and simply honey. Let’s see… With water: well, you like this or you don’t, but it’s all oak oils, with an obvious turpentine-y side. And linseed oil. Mouth (neat): tannins, orange skins, pine sap, earl grey, and grapy feelings. Perhaps a notch too much mint and pepper from the wood, which tends to make it really dry, but again, let’s see… With water: same as on the nose, turpentine, putty, Play-Doh, all these sorts of things. Water totally wakens the oak’s oils. The good news is that some fruits and honeys didn’t give up. Finish: long, oily and resinous. Peaches and raisins cooked in mint sauce in the aftertaste. Comments: quite, as they say in Westminster. Probably not a consensual style, but it works for me. SGP:561 - 88 points.

I think that’s all, folks. But we’ll do a mega-super cognac session again around Christmas, with all, I say all, versions of Courvoisier’s famous Erté collection. And a few other gems from Cognac, such as an older Vallein (1956), some Bouju… So as they say in black metal, stay tuned!

Check the index of all cognacs I've tasted so far