A few more Armagnacs

Hints of Gascony

more Armagnac reviews

Side-by-side tasting of three armagnacs, two IBs and one OB. Two 80s and an early 2000s.

Swell de Spirits Wild Card Series #4 Seailles 2001 51,8%

Early 2000s Ténarèze from Séailles and bottled by Swell de Spirits in June 2025. Promising, isn’t it?

Colour: Dark amber, orange lights. Irregular heavy tears.

Nose: Heady floral notes and tea-ish shades at first. Obvious chalky notes in the background, as a signature of its Ténarèze terroir. Delicious candied orange notes. Perfect balance between rancio and freshness. Definitely love 2000s Seailles.

Palate: Oily texture, with strong bourbon accents and violet sweets notes. Juicy citrus notes, immediately followed by rounder aromas like hazelnut cream and vanilla cake.

Last Notes: Slightly more oaky with air. A tad more exotic too, mainly guava and passion fruit. Fresh leather scents, liquorice. Darker than previously perceived. Back on the palate, you get acidulous red berry notes and fresh spiced aromas. It ends on Sichuan pepper and peppermint.

Stunning kind of 20yo Armagnac. Can’t get bored of these profiles. I only miss a bit more wood integration to score it higher.

88+/100

Aurian Bas-Armagnac 1982 43%

Early 80s Bas-Armagnac from Aurian.

Colour: Mahogany, orange lights. Irregular medium tears.

Nose: Heavy leathery rancio, with a touch of camphor. Surprisingly medicinal profile. Extreme exotic notes. Hints of balsamic shades too. Heavily oaked tones come next.

Palate: Hints of acidulous fruity notes, immediately followed by an opulent bitterness. Yuzu, orange zest. Varnished wood. I miss a bit of precision and wood integration here, as you can feel a beautiful fruitiness, but it seems hidden behind heavy toasted notes.

Last Notes: More rancio with air, leaning towards the earthiness of some French Indies rums. Still a good spoon of balsamic impressions. Slightly dusty too. Back on the palate, you get a musky rancio, with hints of goat’s milk notes (reminding me a bit of HRR profiles). It ends on paprika and black pepper.

Intense wood aromas are obscuring the whole DNA of this nice Bas-Armagnac. Too bad…

84+/100

Poh Spirits Hontambère Pouchegu 1988 44.3%

Late 80s Ténarèze from the old collection from Hontambere (Pouchegu estate) and bottled by Poh Spirits in June 2025.

Colour: Dark amber, gold lights. Irregular heavy tears.

Nose: Full of toffee and caramel sweet notes at first. Plenty of minty aromas too. Quite an expressive nose, maybe a little less precise than other Pouchegu tasted here. Gentle waxy notes in the background.

Palate: Ample texture, carrying intense chocolate notes. Pear eau-de-vie. Very rustic profile, reminding me a bit of some old Domfrontais Calvados, like 1980s Lemorton. A touch of astringency in the aftertaste. It ends on plum juice, the one left in your homemade tinned plum jars (my grandma used to make the best in the world, sorry papa and mama).

Last Notes: Quite yeasty with air, with hints of fresh bread dough and NEIPA beer aromas. A few malted notes indeed. Not as chalky as other Ténarèze (like Seailles), but there’s an undeniable freshness in the background. Back on the palate, you get briny and spiced notes, a strange mix of salted-butter caramel and Tabasco.

Well, if you’re looking up rusticity in the dictionary, here’s a good definition. But rusticity doesn’t mean a lack of wood integration. Very relevant kind of Armagnac.