Paulet VS Cognac

Nose - caramel, raisin, vanilla, floral notes, allspice, fig, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - slightly fermented grape, vanilla, yeast, clove, spoiled meat, bitter herbal notes, moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast with fermented grape, yeast, and bitter herbal flavors. This is not good. I started this review primed not to like it, as I very rarely have a positive experience with VS cognac. This exceeded my negative expectations. The nose is the best part. Dried fruit, floral, and caramel notes are present, but they’re very light and compete with the ethanol for attention. Things take a really bad turn on the palate. Rotting grape and bready flavors are in the mix with a backdrop of industrial spoiled meat notes that I sometimes find on particularly heinous blended malts. This is bad. Don’t buy it, unless you require a mixing cognac and are on a very tight budget. Even then, there are better examples of the category in the same price range.