Jean-Luc Pasquet Fins Bois 68-72 Kirsch Import 59,1%

Fins Bois Bomb

So here is a Fins Bois from JLP’s cellars. Quite unusual, but maybe they’ll keep on that trend (and that could be very interesting)…This one is an assemblage of 1968 and 72, and you find 2 bottlings on the market: one for Kirsch Import (59,1%) and another for Les Grands Alamabics (58,9%). 

Colour: Amber, orange lights. Regular heavy tears.

Nose: Ample nose on exotic fruits, but it’s screaming « let me breathe! » (59,1%!). Very « sunny » nose (like previously perceived with the Grosperrin FB 1989). This nose remains very heady, even with more air. Heady and earthy fragrance. Fresh litchi and apricot scents now. Nice mix of cinnamon and bourbon vanilla. Melted flowery and citruses notes: yuzu, hibiscus, rosewater, tangerine juice. Briny and citruses scents that make think a bit of some mezcal notes, but without the smoky side. Intriguing nose.

Mouth: Sweet and a little oily texture with a tad of bitterness in the aftertaste. Quite powerful, which I was fortunately prepared for. Generous chocolate notes and still some citruses notes. Ground coffee, fresh orange juice. Massive mouth length on cinnamon and bitter chocolate. A tad of nutty notes with roasted hazelnut and pistachio. 

Last Notes: Heady notes of orange zest and bitter chocolate. A great dash of spices, mainly caraway. Still this original mix of citruses and flower scents, something between hibiscus and tangerine peel. Hints of roasted notes, especially burnt wood, remain mostly hidden by chocolate notes. Back on the palate, you find gentle spices aromas: cardamom, cloves, and badian. Strong bitter chocolate notes again. It ends on toffee and fresh licorice. 

A very surprising Fins Bois, quite different from the other challengers in this session. Full of aromas, great complexity, well-balanced even with this outrageous ABV.

My very subjective note: 90/100

Whiskynotes.be tasting note

Fins Bois Session