Navarre Cravache d’Or 45%

NAVARRE CRAVACHE D’OR 45%

High horsepower Grande Champagne

First tasting notes on Hors d’Age for a product from Le Renclos estate. Let’s begin with the youngest of the range, a promising 20yo+ G.C with a generous ABV (45%). Here is the Navarre Cravache d’Or!

Colour: Gold, orange lights. Irregular heavy tears.

Nose: This one needs a lot of air. Heady smells at first. A great mix of fruitiness and freshness. Waves of roasted notes, especially on roasted coffee beans and cocoa powder. Peach syrup. Plums liquor. Strawberry/blackberry juice. Apricots tart as there are some buttery notes in the background. Pasteis de Nata. Tangerine juice. It ends on tinned citruses. Quite appealing. 

Palate: Very sweet and acidulous texture. Nice acidity in the aftertaste. Fresh green lemon juice. Grapefruit juice. Something well-balanced between fruitiness and bitterness. Great mouth length by the way. Some nutty aromas, mainly on hazelnut cream. Dried figs and raisins for sure. Orange liquor.

Last Notes: With more air, it gets fruitier notes. Massive tinned peach scents. Caramelized apple, pear tart. Shy floral smells in the background. Watermelon and apricot juice. Still a nice freshness on sandalwood and eucalyptus. A bit of linseed oil smells too. On the palate, delicious cherry syrup aromas. It is spicier with more air. Sichuan pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, and caraway. Almond pear, roasted hazelnut. There is the delicious wood influence here. It ends on mango juice, fresh licorice, and menthol. That’s a wild one!

Undoubtedly another high-quality-price ratio. Great scents, great aromas, great mouth length. This Navarre Cravache d’Or isn’t the most precise 20yo+ G.C but it is so massive and delicious that you could forgive all its shortcomings. Same delight that I tasted with the JLP l’Essentiel (25yo+ G.C, 42%).Great job Navarre!

My very subjective note: 88/100

More info on this Navarre Cravache d’Or on Cognac-Expert