Grosperrin Petite Champagne 1974 47,5%

GROSPERRIN PETITE CHAMPAGNE 1974 47,5%

Cream of the Century?

1974. Supertramp released their best album. First Concorde demonstration flights began. And…this cognac was distilled. This millésimé has been bought by Guilhem Grosperrin to a family living in Gemozac, in Charente-Maritime. They’re producing P.C cognacs on very chalky soil. Nowadays, they’re dedicated to organic agriculture and winegrowing. Here is the Grosperrin Petite Champagne 1974 (bottled in 2019)!

Colour: Old gold, amber lights. Irregular medium tears.

Nose: Very fruity at first. Cherry syrup, grenadine. Then there is a great freshness on citruses, especially on lemon juice and grapefruit. Some precious wood scents in the background. Obvious floral notes. Acidulous notes, something like watermelon/Arlequin sweets. Here is the P.C. Welcome to the candy shop. Caramel/chocolate sweets, candy floss, fruit paste. Reminds me a bit of the funky nose of a Savanna Herr with its typical esters notes on candy floss and other chemical sweets. Orange zest caramel. Yes, definitely orange notes.

Palate: A huge fruity rancio at first. Fruit paste (apple, cherry, apricots) and cherry liquor. An acidulous and creamy texture that sticks to the palate. Licorice sweets aromas. Wow. A little calvados-y aftertaste with its typical cider apple notes. Exquisite. The mouth length is a bit shorter than La Corbeille de fruits. It ends on fresh licorice and cider apple. 

Last Notes: Even better with more air! It’s more floral, mainly on orange blossom. Orange zest cake, gingerbread. Yes, some pastry notes made their appearance. It gets spicier, especially on vanilla sticks and cinnamon. Dried prunes. Cherry jam. Leather cream. Still very acidulous. Marasquin cherry. Back on the palate: licorice and violet sweets. Strawberry juice. Nice freshness on cedarwood and eucalyptus. A bit of cardamom too. Very fruity aftertaste. The incredible sensation to drink a fruit juice (reminds me a lot of the Grosperrin FB 1959) with some delicate rancioted notes. It ends on slightly mushroomy and peppery notes. Maybe a bit of dry walnut too. 

The empty glass is full of tannic scents and dried prunes notes.

This Grosperrin Petite Champagne 1974 is terrific. Well-balanced, full of aromas with an incredible mouth length. A tad under La Corbeille de Fruits but a little more convincing than le Cognac d’André. 

My very subjective note: 91/100

WhiskyFun review of the 2018 bottling

More info for this Lot 681 on Grosperrin’s website