Old Master Spirits XXO Armagnac Review!

No, that's not two kisses and a hug. Sorry to disappoint you! XXO stands for "Extra Extra Old", referring to a brandy that is at least 14-years old, but without giving a vintage or age statement. Read on!

We're entering the murky world of brandy/armagnac/cognac age "classifications"! There are eight different terms used in the cognac & armagnac industries including a couple of unofficial terms, but the three that are most commonly seen are VS, VSOP, and XO. Rather than actual age statements, these relatively loose terms range from the 2-year minimum age VS "Very Special", to the 4-year minimum VSOP "Very Superior Old Pale", through to the 10-year minimum age XO "Extra Old". Prior to 2018 that was the highest official classification, meaning if you wanted to release a 50-year old cognac or armagnac with one of these classifications on it, then XO was as far as you could go. XO is still considered to be the "cream of the crop" among many brandy drinkers. As with an age statement on a Scotch whisky the age classification of a cognac or armagnac can only refer to the youngest component contained in the spirit. As we've talked about before, an age statement on a cognac or armagnac can legally include time in glass vessels as well as time in cask - so a 4-year old brandy may have spent one year in oak and then three years in an inert glass demijohn. However, one advantage to these age classifications is that they can only include time spent in oak, and not time in glass. So an 8-year old cognac or armagnac that then spent another two years "ageing" in glass cannot be given an XO classification, because it only spent 8-years in oak casks rather than the minimum of 10-years. In 2018 the brandy industry increased the minimum age of the XO classification from 6-years to 10-years, and they added the XXO "Extra Extra Old" classification for spirits that are a minimum of 14-years old.

What we're looking at today is an XXO armagnac from Melbourne's Old Master Spirits, who have previously brought us the likes of vintage-stated 51-year old single cask cognacs and two 39-year old single cask armagnacs - reviewed here and here, along with more general armagnac information. Most of the "luxury product" big brand cognacs and armagnacs are blended products with spirits taken from many different producers, and are chill filtered, artificially coloured, and artificially flavoured with wood flavouring ("boise") and/or added sugar. I've delved into this sordid state of affairs in more detail here, so let's just say that the cognac industry's marketing departments have a lot to answer for... Thankfully Old Master Spirits are proper spirits enthusiasts, so they steer clear of those shenanigans. This latest "XXO" release is a single cask & single estate armagnac, which is cask strength, unblended, unfiltered, and unadulterated - no added caramel, or sugar, or wood flavouring. Just how any brandy purist would want it! This being Old Master's tenth release though, they decided to forego the vintage and age statements, instead giving us only the same age information as many of the gigantic corporate "luxury" brands do; simply the XXO classification, reflecting a minimum age of 14-years. I have it on good authority that this single cask armagnac is considerably older than that, but they're playing their cards close to their chest on this one. Just to mess with the "VSOP" and "XO" crowd even further, and as we'd expect from Old Master Spirits, there's no luxury price tag attached to this bottling. Retail pricing is just $159 AUD! 

This latest armagnac release hails from the Bas Armagnac region, specifically from Chateau Garreau, the 17th century estate pictured above which is located an hour's drive south-east of Bordeaux in southern France. Mr. Charles Garreau purchased the Gayrosse estate in 1919, changing the name to Chateau Garreau and installing a new armagnac still - which is still in use today! His grandson is now the current Master Distiller, over a hundred years later. This Old Master Spirits XXO Bas armagnac was aged entirely in a French oak cask from Gascony, matured entirely in the Chateau's unique 19th century dirt-walled underground cellar. Like most older brandies this 100% Baco grape armagnac was initially filled into a new virgin French oak cask before being transferred into a larger, older refill cask for long-term maturation. The cask yielded only 170 x 500ml bottles at a cask strength of 44.8% ABV. This tenth release from Old Master Spirits will be released to their subscribers on Wednesday the 29th of March, with the general release at 7pm (AEDT) on Thursday the 30th. Deni from Old Master Spirits was generous enough to send through a sample, obligation free, but it'd be rude not to share the XXO (no, they're still not kisses & hugs, sorry) love, wouldn't it? 

Colour: Amber. 

Nose: Rich, fruity & sweet. Stewed dates, molasses, leather, currants, orange peel. Touch of solvent (varnish & acetone) around the edges but fleeting. Thick & dark toffee sauce, oily builder's putty, touch of rum & raisin ice cream, dark chocolate, and warm wood spices. 

Texture: Medium weight. Warm, soft, velvety & fruity. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Sweet, warm & rich. Molasses, rum & raisin ice cream, oily varnish, baking spices. Dark chocolate mousse, currants, orange peel, tinned peaches in syrup. Stewed dates again. 

Finish: Medium length. Wood spices, warm toffee sauce, more dark chocolate mousse. Soft old leather, tinned peaches, currants, and oily varnish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely stuff. Another delicious brandy from Old Master! This one alternates between an old leather & wooden armchair and a slice of x-mas pudding with toffee sauce, and dark chocolate mousse with sweet stone fruit. And it's extremely easy-drinking, without sacrificing weight or texture. The amount of wood influence is spot-on for my brandy tastes, this cask has clearly been well cared-for and well-managed. Like the good NAS whiskies out there, I have no complaints about not knowing the exact vintage or age here. The liquid is what really matters, and this is another great "malternative", especially at $159 AUD. As mentioned, there are only 170 x 500ml bottles, and it's releasing on the 29th of March for subscribers with the general release on the 30th. All of Old Master's releases have sold out very quickly, and I'm guessing this one will be no different. So don't snooze on this one brandy fans!

Thanks as always to Old Master Spirits for the sample for this review, and a big congratulations on their tenth release. Here's to the next ten, and beyond!

Cheers!