L'Encantada Domaine Del Cassou 1988

I’ve been delinquent for the past few months. As temperatures rose I turned to exploring cocktails - chilled, on the rocks, built in the glass, blended. Basically I’ve been craving ice. Pretty sure I’m not anemic (fun fact - ice craving, sometimes referred to as pica and pagophagia, can be a symptom of iron deficiency anemia). Regardless, neat spirits have been neglected and it’s high time to honor those willing to share samples. Up tonight is an Armagnac, meticulously labeled and shared by @ctbeck. Golden, moderately viscous appearance. Nose of butterscotch, fig, old furniture, light brown tobacco, leather, and some floral bits. There might be some maple syrup and vanilla in there as well as praline, allspice and unlit charcoal. Thinner than expected with a burst of cigar wrapper on the tongue, pecan, oak, cedar, musty grape notes (quintessential) and then an unexpected dash of blood orange. As @ctbeck pointed out there is a bit of a disconnect between the nose and palate but both are good. The combination of earthy and tart is interesting. It is a departure of the more syrupy sweet, younger ‘gnacs that I’ve tried. There’s no tannic bite like their blended XO Lot 3 despite this carrying as much age as some of the oldest components in that blend. The thing I keep going back to is how much this leaves the tongue dancing like drawing on a cigar - hot, but not uncomfortably so, with more tobacco than anyone should tackle in a sitting. I hereby deem this bottle liquid Cuba.

Nose - grape must, green apple, butterscotch, brown sugar, honey, peach, white pepper, grass, apricot, chocolate malt, clay, vanilla, orange blossom, coffee, cinnamon, lemon, dry oak, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - tart grape, butterscotch, orange zest, lemon, apricot, fig, peach, allspice, cinnamon, salted chocolate, grapefruit, grass, vanilla, sour apple, sweet oak, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with musty grape, butterscotch, and fruity citrus flavors. After tasting the L’Encantada XO last night, I was inspired to review some more Armagnacs I have access to via bottles and samples. I grabbed this 31 Year 1988 Domaine Del Cassou last year after reading some positive reviews on L’Encantada as an independent bottler of Armagnac. I appreciate them in particular, because most of their bottlings are single cask, barrel proof, unfiltered, and uncolored. Or in other words, the way I like it. The nose is fruity, tart, rich, and fragrant. Sure, the grape notes are strong here, but peach, fig, fresh citrus, and honey are in the mix, accompanied nicely by malty chocolate and coffee aromas. Although the palate pales in comparison to the nose, it’s actually really nice. The citrus and fruits are front and center, but there’s a nice creamy, oaky backbone that effectively balances those high notes. In my experience, Armagnacs present as very sour until they are really, really old. This one is tart, but it avoids the unpleasant sourness that I was expecting to find. Overall, this is great Armagnac. If it were richer, thicker, and slightly less bright, this would be outstanding. And as a side note, I love that we can still buy 30+ year old Armagnacs for around $200 or less in some cases. I’m thinking that won’t last too much longer.