Swell de Spirits S & Co #8 48yo Domfrontais 48,5%

Selected at René Guesdon – La Cave Normande, this very rare 48yo Domfrontais (80 bottles) was bottled at cask strength in July 2024. Let’s go!

Colour: Mahogany, red lights. Irregular heavy tears.

Nose: Ample sherry cask and balsamic notes at first. Heavily rancio-driven. Strong oak impressions too. Red berries jam. A tad of cider apple notes in the background. Not the easiest to read on the nose, but maybe it’s just gasping for air.

Palate: Ample toasted notes of roasted bread slice and burnt almonds. Fresh IPA aromas in the aftertaste, with a distinct rustic bitterness. Overripe fruitiness, bordering on some Foursquare expressions.

Last Notes: It turns more armagnac-like with air, gaining oak structure but also nice old red wine evolution notes. A bit of floral notes too, mainly violet blossom. Back on the palate, you get dry nutty notes and ripe wood aromas. It ends on cocoa powder.

Quite deep, but I miss precision and wood integration here.

My very subjective note: 86/100