Rating: 10/23 I've heard wonderful things about Dudognon Heritage. It's 40 years old, whereas this is only 10, but I imagine (hope) that the quality persists across their age statements. While I don't expect it to be an on par with a 40 year old cognac, 10 years old is not exactly young, so it should be pretty good. N: Hmm, alcohol for sure. There's a touch of vegetation as well, sort of like a light pond scum. Ah, but that gives way to apple and then orange, and finally even cherry. The very faintest pork loin. So faint that I might be imagining it. A very light layer of somewhat undercooked caramel. Some vague notions of barrel spice, but not a lot happening there. It's a fairly light nose with a bit much alcohol. If this didn't have an age statement, I'd be guessing that it was something like 3 to 5 years old. Disappointing so far. P: It's a pretty thin palate. The alcohol shows through immediately. There's a bit of minerality, but not too much. The orange and apple come through with a bit of nectar sweetness to them. I don't really get the cherry though and fortunately the vegetal notes aren't really present either. There are some barrel spices, including a bit of vanilla, though since it's French oak, there isn't a lot of the vanilla. Digging in, I do start to find more to appreciate here, but I still have to acknowledge the thinness and alcohol. More proof and age would probably do wonders for this. This reminds me a lot of ABK6 VSOP, but less sweet and with more alcohol presence. The ABK6 always struck me as having too much sugar and not being complex enough, but I have to give it that it was hedonistic and easy to drink. This is less hedonistic and less easy to drink without having anything else really working in its favor. This is fine, but it's not very exciting and the alcohol really does bother me. F: Not a lot happening here. Faint orange and vanilla. Alcohol. Boring and mostly pretty short. - Conclusion - I wish I still had some ABK6 VSOP (14/23) to side by side with this, but I'm nonetheless confident that this isn't as good. This certainly isn't difficult to drink, but it's not something I would ever order (I mean, maybe if they had a fire sale...at the bar). A 12 is the ceiling for this one, though a 9 is the floor and I'm more skeptical of the 9 than I am of the 12. In a really weird side by side, I get a lot peanut and richness from my bottle of Ry3 Cask Strength than I do from this. I'm thinking of giving this a 10 or 11, but I just couldn't imagine that this was as bad as Ry3. Well, not exactly bad, but... This packs way less flavor in. Yes, the Ry3 is more than 50% stronger than this, but it has remarkably little flavor. Still, it somehow has significantly more flavor than this does. This is a hair more complex and is certainly less aggressive, but it isn't really a whole lot better. I'm going with a 10. No, this is taking me back to all of those Irish whiskeys with too much alcohol to them. I'm going with a 9. There's just too much alcohol and shockingly little flavor here. What's unfortunate is that there are some really nice flavors behind that alcohol. This gives me hope for Dudognon's older releases, but it doesn't make me love this. Still, it does make me think again about giving this a 9. It's actually a lot of nuance hidden in here. All sorts of orange and wood depth. Some nice cherry and spice. This is actually a good follow-up to something that shows alcohol a lot, like vodka or white rum. The alcohol really does stand out a lot here though. Sadly, I wouldn't put this on the same level as Osocalis Rare Alembic Brandy (12/23) because the Osocalis is more complex and despite its funkiness it has less alcohol showing through. Not a 12 here, but maybe a 9 was a little harsh. I'm thinking of a 10 now. Plantation 3 Stars (11/23) seems a bit better than this. I really do like the underlying flavor of this better, but it's just waterier with more alcohol. I can imagine changing my opinion and upping this, but right now it's below the Plantation. I can also see this taking on Probitas (11/23), but right now I'm leaning toward the Probitas. It's closer than I'd expected pre-side-by-side though. So I'm thinking of giving this a 10 now. The fullness of the Probitas is really much nicer than the wateriness of this - likely enough to counter the complexity of this, at least when considering the alcohol flavor here as well. Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star (12/23) definitely beats this with its richness and surprising maturity. There's a nice peanut flavor to the Ancient Ancient Age, in comparison, as well as some light brown sugar. This can be a 10 for now. I'm quite disappointed. Even at a 12, this is nowhere near the 16 I gave it last time. Looking at my tasting notes from before, the profile seems very different as well. I suspect that the juice may have changed in the past 3 ears, unfortunately. This has gone from a very good Cognac at a great price to a just kind of drinkable Cognac that has mercifully not increased in price.