Chateau Garreau Millesime 1985...

Chateau Garreau Millesime 1985 (40.0%): And the last Armagnac from the Chateau Garreau sample pack I was working on throughout the last week... It's another year from their millesime (vintages) range and is distilled in 1985 from Baco and Ugni Blanc grapes like the 1996 vintage we tasted before.

Color: Dark amber, burnt orange color with a persistent ring of spirit around the glass reluctantly morphing into thin but viscous legs.

Nose: Ginger molasses cookies, banana bread and roasted hazelnuts. Fig paste, cloves and toasted German rye bread slices. It's sweet, dark and spicy... Christmas in a glass: Eggnog, butter and nutmeg. A couple drops of water add polished hardwood furniture, cured meat and preserved grape leaves.

Palate: Cinnamon syrup, ground cloves and dried black currants. Toblerone dark chocolate and black cherry soda. Mexican hot chocolate and lightly roasted coffee. Roasted almonds and candied pecans. Mocha ice cream..! Again just a few drops of water works on the palate as well: Burnt brown sugar, molasses and dried figs.

Finish: Long but very subtle... Hot chocolate, hazelnut skins and nutmeg. You really don't want this to end.

Overall: Well, this was a truly amazing coda to the series of Chateau Garreau samples I had the chance to taste this week... It's exactly how you would imagine an almost 35 years old Armagnac would taste like. Nothing to add... It's just marvelous. Thanks again to Gregoire Fabre and Chateau Garreau for going to the trouble of sending this sample pack all the way from Gascony to Los Angeles.

Price: €127

93/100

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