Definitely packs a punch. The aroma is bold but soft and inviting. There's grapes and berries, along with a delicious dark baking spice aroma and maybe a bit of dried fruit, like plums. It's sort of like blackberry jam spread over cinnamon raisin toast. The flavor hits with fruit, but where the smell is soft and cozy, the taste is sharp, biting, arresting --- and so good. It's got a strong grape juice bit, but also something tangier, almost like orange, and a strong wood taste as well. The finish takes the tang to new heights and leaves your tongue tingling with the fruity flavors, reminiscent of a sour candy. There's something very "fresh" about this that's hard to express. This is my first armagnac so maybe I'll discover more about it over time. But it has a farm-to-table quality about it somehow, as if it's captured and preserved the flavors of a farm with orchards and berry bushes. It's really nice. There is a part of me that wishes the flavor maintained the cuddly warm feel of the aroma, but that's a nitpick. It's really nice. Unfortunately at $58 it's out of my usual price range. I treated myself to this bottle but probably won't do so again for some time. If this were $40 I would be buying it over and over. Recommended for those with the budget for it.
Tariquet Bas-Armagnac 15 Year Folle Blanche Cask Strength
About this bottle
As the older brother of the 12 Year Folle Blanche Cask Strength, this 15 Year bottling is also distilled from 100% Folle Blanche grapes via a continuous column still. Folle Blanche was the dominant grape in Armagnac until the phylloxera epidemic, when it became necessary to grow more pest-resistant grapes like Ugni Blanc and Baco Blanc. Folle Blanche also easily succumbs to rot and mildew, and now only accounts for 3% of Armagnac production. This expression from Château du Tariquet is aged for at least fifteen years in French oak. Typically, the first few years are spent in a new, toasted barrel, before being moved into a used barrel (lest the virgin wood overpower the spirit). Bottled at the casks' strength of 46.8% ABV.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 2 parsed reviews.
I was really looking forward to trying this folle blanche armagnac. The nose is already dry, with ripe grape and floral tones and a hint of citrus. The mouthfeel is noticably oily. The taste is very dry, tannic - almost astringent - yet fruity and with a hint of mustiness. No big wood flavour here. Overall, I was somewhat disappointed- because this really isn't any better than some of the VS or VSOP offerings around.
Tastes like this
Same style and price bracket, best rated first.
