I've covered L'Encantada offerings several times now. For those that don't know, these are all the rage in the Armagnac world at the moment which was kicked off by some truly exceptional single casks selected by one specific Brandy group a couple years ago. I've tasted most of those original Lous Pibous casks and they remain the best Armagnacs I've ever had. Ever since then, I feel like we've all been chasing the dragon trying to recreate that magic but thus far I've had mixed results. These days, I'm often leery of new L'Encantada picks because while none of them have been bad, my experiences with the ones I like vs. those that aren't worth the ever increasing cost of admission is batting around .500. It could just be me getting more crotchety when it comes to brown water but I'd suspect it's more likely that the best casks they have to offer have already been selected.
Having said all that, here today we have something which is a little different. Unlike all other L'Encantada products I've had which have been single casks, this product is blend:
- Domaine Lous Pibous 1989 barrel #61
- Domaine Lous Pibous 1987 barrel #87
- Domaine Del Cassou 1994 barrel #55
- Domaine Bellair 1997 barrel #181
I'm intrigued. My hope here is the range of ages makes for a nice of balance of the fruiter notes you get in younger armagnacs and the lush dark woody notes you get in older ones.
Bas Armagnac; No Age Statement (blend of four vintages); 46.8% ABV (cask strength); $100
Nose: Very bourbony - it smells like a middle aged 90ish proof bourbon. It's laden with caramel, a little bit of stone fruit, and a trace baking spice.
Taste: Fruity and sweet with heavy dose of strawberry. Armagnac almost always leans towards purple fruits for me but this is straight up strawberry jam. There are some wood sugar / caramel notes here too, like what a middle aged bourbon would carry. The finish is a bit short as is expected given the proof but some nice muted baking spice shows up to round things out.
Thoughts: I like this. It's got a lot of bourbon sweet notes and the blast of strawberry is really nice. Even better, it has none of the dry/bitter/overoaked notes I've been getting more often in some of the older L'Encantada picks I've had lately. The only thing here that's really holding it back is the proof. If this was in the 105-110 range I think this would be a knockout. All in all, this is a nice blend and I have no regrets for the price paid.
Rating: B
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
Love this one.
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