Hontambere Armagnac 2013 Folle Blanche 49,8%

This Tenareze armagnac is a 100% Folle Blanche, distilled in 2013 and aged for 11 years in a single cask (#A24) in a dry cellar. It was bottled in November 2024 at 49,8%.

Colour: Old gold, hay lights. Irregular heavy tears.

Nose: Heathery at first, with light honeyed tones. Rustic nutty notes on dried walnut. A touch of orchard fruit, reminding me of another kind of Folle Blanche a bit further north (but double-distilled, like one from JL Pasquet). Fresh white pepper notes as well.

Palate: Vivid palate, with a nice balance between clean fruitiness (still on orchard notes) and cider apple bitterness. Light verjus-like impressions in the aftertaste. A bright profile, with very little rusticity, which (imho) brings it closer to a cognac style, something like a Michel Forgeron 100% FB from the 2010s, but without the floral side.

Last Notes: Gentle infused notes with air, mainly on verbena, alongside a vegetal touch of parsley and honeysuckle. Back on the palate, pleasant candied lemon notes, lifted by hints of bergamot. It ends on fresh liquorice and mint.

Precise, fresh, and lightly rustic. Very interesting to rediscover armagnac this way. Of course, it can’t match the depth of a 30yo, but the DNA is clearly there.

My very subjective note: 86/100