Laberdolive 1942 Bas Armagnac Vieux
Origin: France / 43% / Price: around 700-1000€ (auction)
A pure family business since 1856, Frederic Lebel writes about Pierre Laberdolive and the estate in his fundamental book "The Quintessence of Armagnac":
"To make a "great" Bas-Armagnac you need "qualiy white wine, an alembic and local oaks."
It is no wonder then that Laberdolive is maybe the Rolls-Royce of Armagnacs, present in the best restaurants in the world: The wood for the barrels comes from the estate's own forests, which is used to power its own two wood-fired alambics, and the estate is located in the best area with the best soils, the "Grand" Bas Armagnac. Meanwhile, the sons of the "innovator" Pierre Laberdolive have already taken over, so the succession is taken care of.
Producer/Domaine: Laberdolive, Domaine de Jaurrey
Grapes: Folle Blanche (Piquepoul)
Vintage/Age: 1942 (bottled around 1982)
Nose:
Real tobacco oak wall hits you first, there is no getting past it for a while, as if you were coming into a gentleman's club with a wide open, large humidor, prune, cocoa beans, autumn leaves, chestnuts, dark chocolate, mocha, later some lighter notes appear too, grapes, dried peach
Taste:
Intense start for the 43%, cinnamon, vanilla in between, of course the pipe tobacco again, nutmeg, mocha, pomegranate, camphor, grated cocoa, black cherry, saffron, cardamom, noblest woods of all kinds, thyme and touches of tarragon, some violets
Finish:
Pipe tobacco again, no surprise there, rum raisins, prune, camphor, truffle, great, perfectly smooth oak, violets
Comment:
Quite wonderful, sublime Armagnac, the house rightly deserves its famous name & reputation...
94/100 Points
