2008 Domaine De Charron 17 Year Old Singel Barrel K&L Exclusive Bas-Armagnac (750ml)
Domaine De Charron is really one of those secret gems that I know brandy bros are trying to keep for themselves. I have never been into a cellar more exquisitely taken care of than the gorgeous caves at this tiny Domaine. The commitment to quality and specifically a quality that the rest of the larger apparatus eschews is unparalleled. If there was ever a cross over whiskey drinkers brandy this is the one. Imagine getting a cask strength single barrel 17 year old bourbon for $110? You'd probably assume it was terrible considering the price, but you'd still buy it anyway. This ridiculous brandy is absolutely delicious - 17 years in new gascogne oak and bottled without manipulation of any kind. Let's give it a go. The color is a shimering auburn (1.5). The nose is bold and red fruited, with huge sweet oak notes and dense cherry compote. It's the sweet sticky red fruit that leads the mind toward bourbon on first nosing, it's the rich barrel spices that take you the rest of the way home. On the palate, it pops with huge juicy damson plums, butterscotch, tahitian vanilla and cinnamon spice. The texture isn't quite where a 17 year old bourbon might be, but it's dang close and the oily mouthfeel is a testiment to the quality of their spirit. The finish is long with candied cinnamon and red fruit dominating. A totally under appreciated product that the classical brandy people might find a bit overarching, but the bourbon guys will fall right in love here.
Product Availability
Fulfillment times vary, for estimated turnaround times
Notes
Domaine de Charron is one of those tiny Gascon estates that seems almost engineered to make Armagnac obsessives lose their minds. The family’s four-acre vineyard in Perquie was purchased in the early 1900s by grand-mère Lartigue and planted to Baco 22A on the classic sables fauves of Bas-Armagnac, a sandy, iron-rich terroir that helps define the region’s most soulful brandies. For decades the fruit went to the cooperative, with only the occasional barrel kept back for the family cellar, until 1985, when Jacques and Charles Lartigue saved the vineyard from being pulled out and created Domaine de Charron. The style is unmistakable: 100% Baco, distilled traditionally, then aged in new oak without the usual racking into neutral wood. That choice should be dangerous, yet Charron somehow turns it into a signature, producing Armagnac that is powerful, round, wood-framed, and never clumsy. This 2008 K&L exclusive, now 17 years old, lands at a perfect point in the estate’s arc, youthful enough to show lift and energy, mature enough to deliver the deep Charron register of dark fruit, exotic spice, polished oak, cocoa, tobacco, and that wild tropical richness that has earned the estate its cult following. For lovers of old bourbon, high-proof rum, and unadulterated brandy, this is a thrilling bridge into real Bas-Armagnac, from one of the smallest and most singular names in the category.
Product Details
Origin: Armagnac, France
Type/Varietal: Armagnac
Alcohol Content: 50%
SKU: #2003542