Last tasting of the year, on December 31st, just before switching calendars.
A side-by-side that probably makes little sense on paper: cognac, armagnac, whisky and rum, all lined up together. But you probably know that New Year’s Eve is always a mess in terms of organization…
Hontambere Pouchegu 1982 43yo 53,5%
Another Hontambere, another Pouchegu. But this time, with an incredible Bordeaux vintage: 1982. (edit: this one is a joint-bottling with Clos des Spiritueux, so 1yo older than the OB and a few months in their new dry cellar). Let’s see if it’s also a good armagnac vintage.
Colour: Mahogany, orange lights. Irregular heavy tears.
Nose: Delicious exotic notes at first, mainly mango and passion fruit, immediately followed by heady leathery tones. Wild profile, as some meaty scents emerge. Acacia honey and cinnamon notes in the background. Oak influence feels almost reasonable.
Palate: Extreme acidulous notes, with apricot juice and cola sweets. Bourbon vanilla and a touch of herbal notes (coriander, tarragon). Plenty of fruity prune notes as well. Bold but quite precise, with a well-balanced tannic structure. Rum-like aftertaste, a disturbing mix somewhere between Barbados and Gascony.
Last Notes: More zesty with air. Hints of nutty notes, mainly roasted hazelnut. Dark chocolate, roasted sesame seeds. Back on the palate, a generous mix of almond paste and liquorice. Rustic and funky at the same time.
What an armagnac! I’m close to 91 with this one. This acidulous, funky palate is always a no-brainer for me.
90/100
Swell de Spirits #9 Wild Series Charron 2008 Bas-Armagnac 50,2%
Charron & Swell again! Another duo that has already seen here. 2008 vintage this time. Let’s go!
Colour: Old gold, orange lights. Irregular heavy tears.
Nose: Yellow fruit notes at first, mainly cooked peach and apricot. Sharp heathery scents lifted by strong oak influence. Pinewood notes, reminding me of some Bons Bois / Bois Ordinaires profiles. Varnished wood.
Palate: Rustic wood upfront on the palate, moving towards dry malted notes and herbal hints, giving something very close to a rye whisky profile. Plenty of bourbon vanilla in the aftertaste. Sharp tannins.
Last Notes: I can’t escape rye whisky impressions here. Camphory, medicinal notes. Brand-new plastic scents. Back on the palate, a full bowl of muesli and caramel sweets.
Rustic but unusual kind of armagnac. Not really my taste, to be honest.
83/100
Grosperrin Petite Champagne N°71 Lot 642 48,1%
Not the same origin as this PC N°71, which was a Bertandeau (JLP Cognac d’Andre if you remember). This Lot 642 is a young bottling of Esteve estate, located in Archiac area, certified 33yo minimum and bottled at 48,1%. Let’s go!
Colour: Orange, gold lights. Medium irregular tears.
Nose: Full of hesperidean shades at first. Candied citrus notes spiced with cedarwood scents. Quite chalky, not exactly the funky side of PC. Precise herbal notes on parsley. Dry floral shades on violet blossom and potpourri.
Palate: High acidity profile. Oily texture. Full of quince jam aromas. Great tension between fruitiness and acidity. Typical Grosperrin ageing effect, with this profile sharpened by their Saintes cellars. Combined with this chalky Archiac PC, I’d say this is not the easiest expression of Esteve profile to approach.
Last Notes: Rounder with air. Beautiful raw red berry notes. Very delicate honeyed tones. Undeniably a noble PC DNA, reminding me a bit of Le Cognac d’Arlette Lot 70 (still to be reviewed), also from Archiac and sharing this same angular profile. Back on the palate, fresh nutty notes appear, along with a touch of menthol.
Very nice PC profile, but probably not delivered at its best here. What if it had seen a bit of wet cellar ageing and a few more years before bottling?
88/100
Mosstowie Artist #2 LMDW Cask 7621 35yo 1973/2012 54,3%
Mosstowie is one of those “distillery within a distillery” experiments. Produced at Miltonduff between 1964 and 1981 using Lomond stills, it was originally designed to broaden the flavour palette for blends such as Ballantine’s under Hiram Walker’s ownership. The project was eventually abandoned, and Mosstowie was never officially released as a single malt, making these whiskies both rare and highly sought after.
This particular bottling is a single cask (#7621), distilled in 1973 and bottled in 2012 after 35 years of ageing in a sherry butt. It comes from La Maison du Whisky’s Artist series: natural strength, no chill filtration, no colouring, and a limited release of 562 bottles.
Colour: Dark amber, gold lights. Irregular heavy tears.
Nose: Generous jammy notes at first: quince and orange zest marmalade. Mint gum in the background. Delicate pastry notes. Herbal and tea-ish mix, with fermented sides reminiscent of pu-erh. Clean fruitiness combined with the noble tea-like rancio of a 60yo GC. Lovely. Clove and fresh cardamom with air. Grassy notes, a bit like Highland Park.
Palate: Oily texture. Waxy, then incredibly acidulous, with intense cherry sweet notes. Light and opulent at the same time. Minty and herbal again, echoing the nose. Capovilla-like apricot eau-de-vie.
Last Notes: Heady dry floral notes lifted by a refined touch of saffron. Yeasty aromas of fresh bread dough and sesame seeds. Opulent plum notes, almost umeshu-like. Lavender and dandelion. Back on the palate, a perfect malt patina, blending wax, oxidation and nutty tones. Finish on hazelnut cream.
Beautiful rare malt. I definitely love this fragile profile with an “intellectual” nose (91). I miss a deeper palate (88+) to score it higher.
89+/100
Bologne Les Experientiels N°1 ADN 2016 50,3%
This rum comes from Bologne and was distilled from 100% black cane harvested in 2016 on volcanic ferrisol soils. After one year in stainless steel, it was aged in ex-cognac casks, before a rather unusual finishing in a cask refermented with Acetobacter aceti, so we can expect some balsamic/acidic/bitter shades here. Let’s taste this experiment!
Colour: Mahogany, gold lights. Irregular heavy tears.
Nose: Earthy with esters. Full of meaty and peppery notes, exhaling saucisson au poivre and Tabasco. Exotic notes of pineapple and overripe banana. Great jammy aromas of candied apple.
Palate: Extreme rancio with oxidised PX notes. Generous sweetness combined with the malted richness of some clairins. Full of balsamic notes in the aftertaste. Orange zest caramel and pure vanilla.
Last Notes: Less ester-driven than first perceived, but more dark rancio notes appear. Burnt tarragon, pineapple jam, rose sweets. Very nice nose indeed, playing across several spectrums. More bitterness on the palate, echoing the earthy opening, with a touch of cider apple.
Intriguing rum, with a nice balance between earthiness, esters and fruit. I miss a bit of depth and precision to score it higher.
88+/100
From the angular, chalk-driven precision of the Grosperrin PC N°71 to the acidulous, funky brilliance of the Hontambère 1982, from a divisive rustic Armagnac to the fragile elegance of an old Mosstowie, this session was quite a tricky one. Not everything was to my taste, but that’s perfectly fine, that’s also what makes these tastings worthwhile.
Hope you’ll find the perfect dram to switch to in 2026. For me, something like a good 90s GC would be an easy pick.
A quick note for those kind enough to send samples (and thank you again for that): please make sure you have my current address.
Finally, my very best wishes to all the readers of this blog, which I always enjoy feeding with new tastings and impressions. On to the next year, and to even more serious things ahead!
Cheers Luc, Bastien, Barnacetate and all the spirits folks!
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