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.