AE DOR Napoleon 70’s 40%

AE DOR Napoleon 70’s 40%

Back in Time

First AE Dor on Hors d’Age. This Napoleon from the 70’s has been bottled at 40% and it is a blend of Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne and Borderies. There is no age statement but I guess that’s an assemblage of 30yo+ cognacs.  

Colour: Mahogany, orange lights. Irregular medium tears. 

Nose: Quite austere at first, even with a long-time opening. Precious wood and caramelized nuts. Heady and flowery with air, especially on potpourri and jasmine scents. Light tobacco notes. Wild animal rancio hidden in the background, reminding me of some very old Borderies like Heritage Rene Riviere. Is there a common DNA or am I just fooling here? 

Palate: Light texture, a little watery. It feels old. Strong tobacco aromas surrounded by this wild rancio previously perceived on musky animal notes. Acceptable mouth length. This is what I call a monolithic cognac. Heavily rancioted with one way of reading: old, venerable oaky shades. A tad of orange peel marmalade in the aftertaste, but quickly muted by gigantic liquid tobacco notes.

Last Notes: Without any surprise, you still find this specific old Borderies DNA, flowery and musky. Maybe there is a little variation on candied citruses too, but that’s a minor one. back on the palate, it tends to be oakier than before, and you get an excessive astringence. Still some precious wood notes, still some massive tobacco aromas. Definitely a cigar club cognac style. Not my favorite one to be honest, but probably very representative of an era and a way of making old cognacs. 

That’s not the easiest note to give. Beyond the ABV and the improvable mouth length, this is this specific cognac style that is hard to understand. Interesting. I think I’ll go with something around 84.

My very subjective note: 83+/100

More info about AE DOR on Cognac-Ton