JLP Symphonie des Terroirs N°2 48,8%

JL PASQUET SYMPHONIE DES TERROIRS N°2 48,8%

Blending as an art

I’ve got some nice memories of Confluences range, so I can’t wait to taste this Symphonie N°2. And what’s the recipe for this blend? Grande Champagne L.57/62: 15% / Fins Bois L.81: 50% / Borderies L.90’s: 35%. Around 40yo, 48,8%. Sounds nice. Let’s go!

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

Nose: Sharp and vivid profile at first. Hints of malted and fresh peppery scents. Heady orange blossom notes. Full of caramelized nutty tones. Heathery and flowery notes in the background that can be linked to a Borderies nose. Surprising and subtle carrot cake scents with air. 

Palate: Oily texture. Full of black pepper and caraway notes. Acidulous aromas in the aftertaste. Dry heathery notes with a sharp profile. Hints of noble wood notes then. Full of dried fig and raisins in the aftertaste.

Last Notes: More rancioted now. It remains very flowery and zesty, quite impressive for a 40yo blend. Humid cellar scents melted to briny olive oil notes. Concerning the palate, it gains fullness and richness with air (30 minutes of opening), as you get great pastry notes, especially some kind of pain-au-raisin aromas, even if it retains a few sharp citrus notes.

Blending at this level is an art, and there are some masters in the cognac region. Well-balanced, precise, deep. Pasquet’s Confluences range already convinced me, and here is another proof that they’re very talented in this noble art. I just miss this little extra touch that you find in the Tres Vieille Petite Champagne to go higher than 90.

Moreover, I’d just add that this cognac was in the blind tasting competition that I organized this year. To be fair, and as I discussed with Paul (working for JLP), it’s quite impossible not to guess a GC/PC driven blend, or to guess a major amount of FB in it. But maybe this sharp and heathery acidulous side comes from the 90’s Borderies.

My very subjective note: 90/100

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