CHÂTEAU DE LAUBADE BAS-ARMAGNAC 1979

Rating: 17/23 This is my oldest Château De Laubade, coming in at 40 years, and is my 1994th alcoholic beverage reviewed. I could lie and say that I chose this because the 4+0 in 40 equals the 4 in 1994, but the real reason is that I reviewed two 1994 vintage drams fairly recently (Deanston and Girvan), so I felt like I didn't really need another 1994 review, but I did need to fit this dram into my Château De Laubade tasting series. At 40 years old, I'm hoping that this will be amazing. N: Lots of wood polish, with orange toffee. It's not all that complex, but it's sure decadent and there's a bit of depth to it. Shockingly, I don't get much in the way of tannins. Oh, giving it a big swirl, now I'm getting tannins. They're bitter and tart, with a bit of spice. Still not a lot of spice though. Hopefully the palate isn't inundated with tannins. P: This is quite bitter, with some leatheriness and spices. There's some nice vanilla sweetness as well, with a little bit of chocolate. The bitter, tart tannin flavor comes through, but it really doesn't overwhelm. Notes of toffee make it in at times, adding to the character of the vanilla sweetness. Occasional orange hints that make me think of Reagan's Orange Bitters (which is to say that they're more dry and spicy than sweet). There isn't a lot of complexity here, but there's great balance and some nice depth. This is really a delightful sipper. The vanilla really carries it through. F: Vanilla with slightly leathery wood and suggestions of spices. I had trouble identifying the spices in the palate, but cinnamon is more apparent now. - Conclusion - This is excellent. It's a real stand-out armagnac. It's not blowing my mind, but I'm really liking this. Side by side, Delord 25 (20/23) is more complex, but it is also clearly less mature, showing some more alcohol. It's really a touch call between the two. This has much more subtle nuance. Returning to this the next day, the boldness really stands out, but so do the tannins. It's wood central here, but there are still strands of fruit and spice, with occasional wood sticking out. I'm inclined to place this above A De Fussigny XO (18/23), but not far above it. The A De Fussigny is fruitier with more vibrant complexity, whereas this really shows off its age. The tannins here are a bit much, especially in terms of astringency. Delord 25 is likewise a better conceived balance of flavors. This is challenging in comparison. I don't see this beating the Delord. Honestly, it's struggling a bit against the A De Fussigny as well. It's certainly better than Château De Laubade 1988 and Château De Laubade 2000 though. I really like all of the wood polish here and I enjoy a certain amount of bold tannins, but those tannins are really a bit too much. Still, this is a really decadent and sippable dram. Rémy Martin 1738 (16/23) is fruity and fun with some nice range of flavors, but it lacks the maturity that this has and shows its alcohol a bit much. That said, the tannins here also show a bit much. I definitely place this ahead of the Rémy though. I don't feel like this is rising quite to the level of the A De Fussigny, so I think that I need to give this a 17. It's unfortunate, but this seems to have aged past its prime. There is definitely some nice complexity here, but the flaws are hard to look past. This certainly isn't a 16, but I'm not quite convinced that it's an 18. As much as I adore the boldness here, the fact that it largely comes from some kind of excessive oak really does bring this down.

Nose - grape must, brown sugar, date, fig, dark chocolate, coffee, raisin, tobacco, molasses, banana, hazelnut, nutmeg, cinnamon, orange, rich oak, lemon, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - tart grape, orange, date, nutmeg, clove, lemon, pineapple, fig, molasses, cocoa, tobacco, leather, raisin, polished oak, walnut, molasses, overripe banana, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with musty raisin, baking spice, dark fruit, and citrus flavors. This is the final Laubade and Armagnac of my review series, and it’s an old one at around 40 years. The age is easily detectable on the nose. Dark fruits, chocolate, nuts, and interestingly some rummy molasses and banana aromas as well. The palate is musty with more of the same notes and a pleasantly lingering finish. I think I like the 1988 the most from the set of five. The 1979 is woodier and a bit more closed off than the other. Nonetheless, this is great Armagnac and a pleasure to experience. And I’ll give one last huge thank you to @ContemplativeFox for providing these for me to review. It’s been a great learning experience to do a deep dive into these progressively older Laubade expressions.