Michel Forgeron Barrique 87 56%

MICHEL FORGERON BARRIQUE 87 56%

Cask Strength G.C

Let’s start 2022 with a cask strength! In the heart of G.C, a few kilometers away from Segonzac: Michel Forgeron and its 25 hectares of vines. Apart from the interesting Folle Blanche range, you also find a cask-strength cognac range: the Barriques. This one is the 87, so you’ve probably already guessed that we’re not talking about 1986 or 1988. And now it”s time to taste!

Colour: Old gold, green lights. Regular heavy tears

Nose: Warm welcoming on orange zest marmalade and bitter chocolate. Peanut butter/ cocoa butter. An after-eight-like mix of chocolate and mint. Still Christmas time (in my glass). Candied citruses. Coffee beans. Something well-balanced between ample bitterness and generous pastry/sweets notes. 

Palate: Sweet texture with a tad of acidity. Still this bitter chocolate feeling but it’s way less precise than the nose. An unbalanced mix of spiciness and acidity. Walnut cream. Roasted nuts. Hazelnut jam. It ends on dusty nuts and prunes. Definitive lack of precision. 

Last Notes: Cocoa butter again. Milky chocolate. Nutmeg powder. Peppermint. This massive strength seems to hide most of the richness of this Barrique. Chocolate, almond paste. The palate isn’t precise at all. 

I was expecting a bit more from this Michel Forgeron 87, even if it remains a generous G.C. Don’t know if a little reduction would have brought some finesse here.  It’s another example that cask strength does not always fit cognac precision. With its smart reduction (45%), I prefer their X.O (20-30yo).

My very subjective note: 85/100

Another Michel Forgeron Barrique tasted by Serge Valentin

Thank you Bastien for this one!