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…

My very subjective note: 84+/100