Anyone who knows this producer and the excellent spirits that were distilled by M. Laporte some 30-40 years ago should not be surprised that I believe this to be one of the greatest domaines in Armagnac. The barrels themselves were purchased after Laporte's death by the Chateau Hontambere, but the quality has not been compromised what so ever. No, in fact it seems as though the current owners have managed to keep some of the finest barrels under wraps. Few spirits in the store will compare to this exceptional product, no other age spirit deliveries so much for so little though. If all armagnac was made in this style, we'd have drunk it all years ago. Let's have a taste. The color is deep tawny. The nose is pungent, intoxicating mix of wild red fruit compote, toasted vanilla bean, light roasted arabica, raw honey and charred oak. On the palate the fruit upfront is an absolute surprise. Pure dried apricot and peach, followed by tart cherry, exotic antique wood, slight lacquer box character. The big spice and slightly bitter oak is overpowered on the finish by the desiccated peach flavor, moving almost to the candied peach range. The balance and complexity is second to none and it's absolutely astonishing that nearly 40 years in new oak hasn't completely clobbered this spirits. That said, if you don't like a wood driven style of Armagnac this is not the product for you, for everyone else this will, I believe become a benchmark for which to measure brandies in this style.