Brandy Banter

@paddockjudge

It is good that you have some of them planned out. Once I reclaim a bit of a social life, although I am not sure when that will be, I might be able to plan a bit more when I will open more bottles. I do know that the 1975 Vintage (I do like the French word Millésime, but won't use it here) will be opened on my birthday.

Here is a bit of Brandy Banter. I forgot to upload a photo of the label on the back of the bottles of the Darroze Unique Collection, 1975, 1992 and 2000 Millésime. Why should I do this now? Well, I forgot to mention that not only does Darroze provide very good information cards, but their labels are also quite informative.

You will see on the front label the following information:

1. Darroze, the company that distills and matures the armagnac.
2. The area/region the domaine/estate is located: e.g. Bas Armagnac or Armagnac (in the case of Domaine de La Poste)
3. Vintage Year
4. The Domaine/Estate
5. Age
6. ABV and ml/cl

(Now we can see why Ralfy reviewed a bottle of Darroze some years ago, hahahah)

While on the label on the back of the bottle, I want to focus on one bit of information, and that is the bottle date, at least the month and year. Again, something many enthustiast of spirits might want. And seeing most of us are here on Connosr for whisk(e)y, yes, it would be nice to see so much information provided. I am sure there are many of us here who look up on the Internet the etching code on bottles hoping we can find someone who has decoded them. HA!

You will see that all the bottles, 1975, 1992 and 2000 were bottled in August 2021.

Lastly, here is a video I started to watch today where the owner Marc Darroze is being interviewed and introducing two bottles of their Grands Assemblages and Unique Collection lines. Some of you might find interesting to watch: www.youtube.com/watch

I am actually happy I discovered and gambled on the Darroze armagnac before watching the video. However, I think this would have been a good motivator (at least for me) to consider it. What drove me to go for Darroze, my friend Joe and Seamus. I think I mentioned earlier, but it is (somewhat) worth repeating. I was a bit envious of the fact he had access to high strength, actually cask strength, armagnac, and I didn't. At least not until I found an online source. With this online source, the one company that they carried more cask strength armagnac happen to be Darroze. That was the driving force for my selecting Darroze. So far, I have opened three different bottles, two of them cask strength and one 43% abv, and I am very pleased with them all. No, I did not sell my bottles of 16yo Nadurra so I could pay for all of the bottles of armagnac. I sold my brother's children. HA!

@ajjarrett what about chill filtration and e150a?

@Nozinan, if I may interject, ALL bottles from the UNIQUE collection are authentic and natural; single cask, cask strength, natural colour, without chill-filtration, and free from dosage.

@Nozinan Yes, Ralfy would say the 'label is the contract' blah blah...'don't believe what they say. If it isn't on the label, then you cannot believe it.' I wish politicians would have labels tattooed on their forehead.

Actually, in the video Marc does state that there is no coloring added. I will have to watch it again to see if he mentioned any filtration. My guess (yes, it is just a guess) it hasn't been filtered in any way except to make sure that toothpick size pieces are floating around. HA!

@Nozinan Yes, Ralfy would say the 'label is the contract' blah blah...'don't believe what they say. If it isn't on the label, then you cannot believe it.' I wish politicians would have labels tattooed on their forehead.

Actually, in the video Marc does state that there is no coloring added. I will have to watch it again to see if he mentioned any filtration. My guess (yes, it is just a guess) it hasn't been filtered in any way except to make sure that toothpick size pieces are floating around. HA!

Making Armagnac Poached Pears for tonight's dessert... winemag.com/recipe/pears-poached-in-armagnac-with-vanilla-ice-cream/

Armagnac Poached Pears with Vanilla Ice Cream and Spice Cookies.

And the last of my 1999/2018 Baron Gaston Legrand Bas Armagnac, which was opened on our 19th anniversary, just a bit over three years ago.

@YakLord Which armagnac did you use in your poached pears recipe?

@YakLord, that is a dynamite dish. Wish I was there to sample your poached pairs in Armagnac. Vanilla ice cream is my favourite food to pair with Pruneaux Armagnac. The spice cookies is a clever touch.

@ajjarrett The 1999/2018 Gaston Legrand...and then I finished it with dessert.

A fun dessert with incredibly delicious “syrop”. @YakLord, have you tried this one?… on vanilla ice-cream

@paddockjudge I have not.

@YakLord Of course not.... it seems @paddockjudge cleared them out!

@YakLord - How was it? I've considered buying that myself.

@RianC I enjoyed it, although it was my first foray into vintage Armagnac, as all my previous experience with brandy has just been non-Cognac and non-Armagnac brandy, so I have nothing to compare it to.

That being said, much less expensive than similarly aged Scotch, so...

A bit of nonconsequential brandy banter. Assuming you read my messages as I begun my adventure in armagnac. I thought I would tell a short story. Well, I went on the website where I purchase the Darroze armagnac. I even filled up my shopping cart, but didn't 'check out' right away. I thought I would wait a few days. I went back and the Darroze Domaine de Poutëou 2000 was missing. Oops, it has sold out. After I saw that it was gone, I decided to buy what I had put in my cart. I am also happy, since it was the 2000 vintage that really got me hooked, that I had purchased a total of three bottles. Lesson learn, if you like it, you might need to buy a few backups sooner than you think.

Also, I just poured myself my first glass of the Darroze 30yo Les Grands Assemblages. I know it is the first pour, but I wasn't moved as I was with the Darroze 2000 and 1992 vintages. The nose of the 30yo is lovely and quite inviting, and gets a nice sweetness when I added a little water. Time and water, just like many bottles of whisk(e)y, does the drink a favor. However, the astrigency was strong and only lightened up with a little water. Granted, this is the first pour from the bottle, so I am sure oxidation will help it out. However, I can tell you, I didn't get this level of astrigency from the 1992 and 2000. Lesson learned, oh...I am not sure if there is a lesson here. So take this as a first impression post.

@ajjarrett, the Darroze 30yo Les Grands Assemblages is a blend at 43% abv. Water has been added, diluting the authentic characters. Making a 30 YO blend is a good way to use some 30 YO barrels which may not be good candidates for a single cask release. Darroze Unique Collection are all single cask, cask strength etc. The bottler cannot hide flaws when releasing a naked vintage Armagnac.

You seem to have a keen pallet. Thanks for alerting me to your disappointment in the 30 YO. I have not owned an age stated Darroze. You have helped to support my hunch, they are milestone flags. I appreciate a good blend, let’s hope Darroze has some….perhaps comparing a blend to cherry-picked single cask offerings is not fair; however, good is good, regardless of price or age. I trust your evaluation and will continue to purchase single cask offerings while buying a minimal amount of age stated blends.

@paddockjudge

I am not sure if I keen sense of taste. Since my post on the Darroze was a 'first impressions' I woudn't take too much 'stock' into it yet. First impressions are important; however, I am very optimistic about the bottle's development. Let me explain a little about why I used water. I treat the first few glasses, of a whisk(e)y, and now an armagnac, as an experiment and an 'introduction'. (No, not like that git, Richard Paterson, sniffing the glasses several times and talking to himself) Anyway, I truly appreciate your input on this @paddockjudge.

I will certainly buy several bottles of what I like over those I don't like as much. Nevertheless, I will still wait to give an overall assessment after more pours have been made and more time has passed.

Here is evidence I am helping the economy pull out of the 'Great COVID Resession'. Since I am posting it on this thread first, you can guess that it is a bottle of Darroze armagnac. This bottle in vintage 2004, and bottled in August of 2021, and stated on the lable 17yo. This comes from Domaine de Monturon, and has a 50% abv. After the photo of the bottle, I will post a photo of the informational card. I plan to open this one up soon to make sure if I ought to buy a second bottle or not.

And yes, I was listening to Miles Davis when I was taking the photos.

I will point out one element of the informational card, which I am excited about, and didn't know until I read the card (of course, I could have gone to the Darroze website and probably have found out that way) that this made with 100% baco grape. I am quite excited to get a diverse experience with these armagnac and havine some that are made from combination of varieties of grapes to one that are made from a single variety actually fascinates me.

@ajjarrett I spotted Miles in the background. Looks like Seven Steps to Heaven? Good one.

@BlueNote You got it. My brothers listen to "Stairway to Heaven" while I listen to "Seven Steps to Heaven".

@ajjarrett - I like that they use local oak but are quite reserved about it. Imagine the 'hoo-ha' around that feature were this Scotch ...

@RianC I stopped watching Ralfy's videos for several reasons, but once I was introduced to armagnac and inspired to try it by my friends, I did watch his video when he reviewed a Darroze armagnac. He really talks up the informational card, and I must admit, I agree with him on it. It would be nice to see whisk(e)y distilleries to go that 'transparent' about things. I would say that for enthusiasts who go from enjoyment to appreciation then information about what a person is buying and drinking would be well received.

@ajjarrett - Totally agree and I think I've seen that ralfy vlog.

re Scotch: I think the main problem is that there is no legal or SWA ruling that demands it, and, as such, it is usually used as a feature worthy of demanding a higher price, rather than simply because customers might desire it - a gimmick, if you will?

I personally think there should be a legal obligation to show exactly what goes in any consumable. For whisky we should know if any additives (colouring) are used, cask types (for single malts) and previous contents, barley type and a clear definition of any filtering processes involved. I'd like the kind of warehouse(s) used too but this could prove difficult info. to condense so I'll cut some slack there

That the SWA actively oppose transparency, and fought back against Bruichladdich and the like (like those kids at school who can't wait to dob you in to the teacher for having a bit of #fun!!!), says all you need to know about their own preferences on the subject.

@RianC

I guess what we can 'hope' for (although I do not believe in hope) is that other whisk(e)y producing countries will move in a more informative/transparent direction. I think there was a growing number of people who consider themselves enthusiasts, and not jsut an 'average drinking'. I also suspect that this group of people increased during the first two years of COVID. If distilleries and their marketing agencies/departments respond, then they will meet these expectations. Anyway, not all brandy/cognac/armagnac producers provide this much information, so let's see if Darroze, and those who do the same, set a trend.

@ajjarrett I will listen to either one of those on any given day.