Marie Duffau Napoléon Armagnac

Nose- pleasant butterscotch candies, and fig newton. The nose is gentle but pronounced Palate- mouthfeel is smooth and buttery. There is a creaminess about it. Oak makes its first appearance followed by spicier notes like all-spice and nutmeg. Gently warming. Grape jam and caramel creams come in at the end. Finish- turns slightly woody and bitter on the finish. I am wondering as this opens if the slightly tannic finish rounds out. This is where I think some have found a wee bit too much ethanol at the end. I will reserve my judgement for future sips, but if there is a distraction it is here. Overall- This was a new bottle, and for the things I liked, I REALLY liked them- great nose, good balance of sweet and spice. The finish though left me a bit flat. Lots of woodshop, and ethanol. My experience though tells me that as this is open longer that will dissipate. I look forward to trying it again in about a week and reporting my results. I prefer the more "in your face" version of Delord. To me the flavors are more distinct. BUT if you prefer a gentler iteration, this may be it.

I was semi-surprised to find this higher rated than the Marie Duffau Hors d'Age, but while younger, it does have some decent complexity with just a bit less finesse. The nose has some apple notes, oak and a bit of stone fruit, thinking apricot. The palate features nutmeg, oak, vanilla and is a bit oily. You can tell it's a bit of a young brandy. The finish has a light burn and pepper notes, similar to the Hors d'Age. The value is there for this bottle, so I can see people favoring this one over the Hors d'Age, but I still would go with the latter. In the end, both bottles are great introductions to the category of Armagnacs.

Nice light copper color. Nose has raisin notes. Taste is similar to the nose with a light raisin sweetness along with some heat. Medium mouthfeel and finish. This was the first Armagnac I've tried so I was a little biased, initially comparing it to Cognac. I found it somewhat harsher than cognac in regards to having some more heat but the flavor was more robust (due to the single distillation). This stronger character paired better with the maduro cigars I like. I am looking foward to sampling other Armagnacs.

Visual: Amber-Copper. Slow, beading legs. Nosing: sweet dried raisins, vanilla, oak, and prunes. My grandfather's aged wine turned marsala comes to mind. Rose ice wine also appears here for me. Tasting: sweet, smooth and well balanced. There's lots of good grape flavour here and there's some good warning alcohol as well. There's some nice spiciness and nuttiness to it too, namely cloves and a pinch of cinnamon. Has good body and a decent finish too. A comforting spirit! I really love this Armagnac.

This is sweet and fruity with a lot of punch (the punch is from the flavor - it is actually quite smooth). The red fruit is not disgusting, but does remind me of A De Fussigny Selection. Brown sugar and some spice are present, along with a little smoke. The spice gives it a little kick and helps balance the sweetness, but is not overwhelming. The depth is adequate, but I wish it were fuller and had more variety. I enjoy it and the fact that it changes a bit over time, but it isn't amazing.

Intense french oak spice, sawdust, some astringency, dried apricots, touch of vanilla coming off the upper palate, herbal & earthiness, red plum, fresh fig, creamy, floral dew, hint of candied orange peel, apple butter, sultanas, sharp lemon rounds out the finish. Well aged as indicated by the Napoleon designation. The terroir/grape varietal is more pronounced here than in cognac. Fig, apple butter and plum linger awhile. Would pair well with a cigar. Unfortunately it's inconsistent.