Old Master Spirits 1982 Armagnac Review!

Another non-malt first for Peated Perfection, once again courtesy of Old Master Spirits: My first Armagnac review! This isn't just any armagnac though, in typical Old Master fashion this is a 39-year old single cask. These guys don't do things by halves! 

Armagnac is often thought of as cognac's poorer cousin, which is an unfair and very incorrect assessment. Just as cognac is a type of white wine-derived brandy from the Cognac region (AOC/DOC) of south-western France, armagnac is a white wine-derived brandy from the Armagnac region of southern France. To think of armagnac as being inferior to cognac would be like thinking every single malt Scotch whisky is better than any other single malt whisky; it's just not the case, and blanket statements & misconceptions like that only serve to give you tunnel vision. Cognac is certainly the "sexier" of the two cousins though, largely thanks to the marketing efforts of the big cognac brands. It's not my preferred music genre by any means, but I can't say I've heard any rap lyrics bragging about an expensive armagnac, or seen any armagnac brands being thrown about in their videos. But then I can only name one armagnac brand off the top of my head. Marketing is a funny thing! Armagnac is often cheaper than an equivalent cognac, which might benefit the discerning drinker, but doesn't help its comparative image as far as glamour and "luxury" goes. Much like cognac, armagnac is split into different production regions within the area of the AOC, with Bas Armagnac being the largest and most commonly seen. Haut Armagnac and Armagnac Tenareze are the other two official appellations, both of which are considerably smaller and rarely seen in comparison. "Bas" is pronounced "Baz" and translates to "low" in English, but that only refers to a lower altitude above sea level and certainly not quality. "Haut" is pronounced "Ugh" and translates to "high" for the same reason, and "Tenareze" region is believed to be derived from "Route of Caesar", as in the Roman Emperor.     

Aside from geography, the main difference between these two brandies lies in the distillation, where cognac must be double-distilled in copper pot stills by law, armagnac is typically produced in a column still - although as you can see from the image below, they're a far cry from the massive industrial column stills that we know from the world of grain whisky and other mass-produced spirits. These rustic copper stills are known as 'Alambic Armagnacais', where a dry acidic white wine is continuously fed into the still for distillation, but on its way down it also serves as the cooling liquid to condense the spirit vapours back into liquid as they leave the column - as with cognac, this happens in a tightly-packed worm tub condenser rather than a modern shell & tube design. A single distillation run in these short columns with a small number of plates (typically less than ten) produces a far less refined spirit than a modern column still, and results in a much lower spirit strength, often just 50-60% ABV. While pot stills are also legally permitted for armagnac production, their use is very uncommon and is considered untraditional. Aside from the distillation, armagnac also uses some (but not all) different grape varieties to cognac, most commonly the ugni blanc and baco varieties, while like cognac maturation happens in French oak, but matured spirit is often transferred to glass demijohns for storage, which is considered part of the maturation and can be (but is not always) included in any age statements. Also like cognac, armagnac producers are permitted to add caramel colouring, sugar, and 'boise', the liquid wood extract which adds colour and flavour to the spirit. Thankfully the latter two are used less often in armagnac than in cognac, but it does still happen with some mainstream brands. Also much like cognac, the vast majority of armagnac is blended together using spirits from different distilleries / houses, although single vintage bottlings are more common in armagnac, with any age statement referring to the youngest component in the spirit. 

Much like the two cognacs I reviewed here, this independent bottling from Melbourne's Old Master Spirits is a single cask, single producer armagnac, bottled at cask strength and without chill filtration, and without any added colouring, sugar, or flavouring. This is a 39-year old Bas Armagnac from Chateau Bordeneuve, who label their official bottlings as Baron de Sigognac, named after one of their prolific cellar masters. This 'Armagnac House' is privately owned by the Gausch family, and dates back to the 1800s. They only produce Bas Armagnac, and every step of the production process happens on site, from harvesting the grapes - primarily ugni blanc and baco varieties, grown on site - to pressing, fermentation, distillation, maturation and bottling. Speaking of maturation, Baron de Sigognac only use French Limousin oak casks, mostly refill but also including some virgin oak, which are matured in a stone-walled, earthen-floored cellar dating back to 1840. This single cask bottling of Bas Armagnac was distilled in 1982 from 65% baco, 25% ugni blanc, and 10% folle blanche grapes, and has been matured in French oak for the full 39-years. The cask yielded 122 x 500ml bottles at a cask strength of 47.6% ABV, and it'll be released on Old Master Spirits' website on Thursday the 25th of August (2022). Pricing is extremely reasonable for a 39-year old single cask spirit at just $249 AUD - imagine what that figure would look like if this was a 39-year old single malt! Let's see how it fares.  

Colour: Dark bronze. 

Nose: Rich, weighty & dense. Warm wood spices, juicy sweet oak, sweet floral spirit around the edges. Sweet orange, lightly acidic. Soft old leather and fruit & nut chocolate further in. 

Texture: Medium weight. Sweet, spicy & nicely oaky. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Juicy sweet oak, touch of bubble gum, warm wood spices. Sweet grape syrup, more soft old leather & sweet orange. 

Finish: Medium length. Wood spices, dark chocolate, old leather & toasted oak. 

Score: 4 out of 5 (bearing in mind my limited armagnac experience). 

Notes: Dessert in a glass. Lovely stuff! Not a huge amount of complexity maybe, but what it does it does extremely well, and it's ridiculously easy drinking without being overly woody - this armagnac has spent 39-years in French oak, remember! By far the best armagnac I've tasted to date, and I have come across quite a few - more than I have cognac, so far at least. This Bas-armagnac proves, again, that Old Master Spirits really know what they're doing. They're waiting for the right cask of the right spirit to come along when it's ready, without any commercial pressures or greedy shareholders pushing them in any direction. And they clearly have some great connections. They're all about quality spirits and reasonable pricing, and it seems to be working wonders for them! 

This is definitely one to look at for if you're a brandy and/or cognac/armagnac fan, and it won't last long with only 122 bottles at $249 AUD. For a great quality 39-year old single cask spirit of any description, that's some serious value for money!

But that's not all folks. We have another 'malternative' for dessert. An Australian rum! This is a single cask dark rum, distilled at Black Gate Distillery in Mendooran, New South Wales, and again bottled by Old Master Spirits. This is a sugar cane molasses rum, double-distilled in Black Gate's direct-fired copper pot still (pictured below) and aged for three years in a single French oak ex-shiraz wine cask, sourced from Huntington Estate Wines in Mudgee, New South Wales. Just 84 bottles were available, priced at only $115 AUD, and I've said "were", because they sold out in less than an hour a few weeks ago. So you probably won't be able to buy this one! I'm not going to score this rum since it's my first semi-official rum review, and it's already sold out regardless, but I was very curious to try it, and I had to share the results!

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Dark, rich & heavy. The molasses is there, and there's a big dollop of "rum funk" - acetone, oil paints, over-ripe banana. But there's a lovely rich caramel fudge too, and it's quite fruity underneath with plums, sweet apricots in honey, some artificial strawberry syrup and oily furniture polish. 

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Rich, funky & fruity. Very slight touch of heat. 

Taste: Mint, dried plum, black tea leaves, caramello koalas (caramel milk chocolate) and some eucalyptus. The over-ripe banana and solventy "funk" are these again, but they're more in the background here. 

Finish: Medium length. Leather, over-ripe banana, mint and more caramel milk chocolate. Touch of that oily paint and a little burnt toffee to round things out.

Notes: Certainly a funky rum, with a good whack of "Australian-ness" to it, but in a good way. I'm far from an expert on the subject, but I'd say this Black Gate rum from Old Master Spirits is skirting the line between a funky Jamaican rum and an Australian dark rum, plus the added fruit from the wine cask. And it does work well! As I said above, I'm not a huge rum fan personally, the molasses sometimes gives me flashbacks to a darker and rougher (in terms of drink!), pre-whisky era of my life, and a faint whiff of one particular brand is often enough to send me running for the hills. I've only come across a few rums that I've enjoyed in the last ten years or so, mainly of the Caribbean variety - one SMWS Caroni, one Master Blender's Reserve blend from Black Tot, and a Havana Club special release that was matured in ex-Bowmore sherry casks - so that last one probably doesn't count! 

Black Gate's spirits are intentionally "rough around the edges" in terms of character, probably a result of the hot climate maturation and also the direct-fired still, which gives them plenty of substance, both in texture and in character. Young, rich and powerful, and packing a flavour punch, and this rum is no different. It's been rounded nicely by that wine cask maturation though, even after a relatively short period of time, giving it an extra fruity edge without taking over completely. This is certainly an Australian whisky drinker's rum, and a funky one at that!

Thanks to Deni from Old Master Spirits for the samples for these reviews, and for his open & professional communication once again! Be sure to sign up to the mailing list on their site for the launch of the armagnac and future releases.  

Cheers!