Woody but so drinkable, I hadn’t appreciated when sampling this that it wasn’t all 20 years old! Some soft floral notes but this is mostly wood and dried herbs and fruits with a generous nutty and chocolate component too, superb! 86/100
Woody but so drinkable, I hadn't appreciated when sampling this that it wasn't all 20 years old! Some soft floral notes but this is mostly wood and dried herbs and fruits with a generous nutty and chocolate component too, superb! 86/100
Don’t worry! I haven’t become Armagnac Obsessed, but I actually am about this particular one, because it’s part of a bourbon and armagnac love story, so to speak. Sort of like Romeo and Juliet but with a happier (and tastier) ending. If you’ll remember back in the early summer of 2020, the Bardstown Bourbon Company released their Château De Laubade Bourbon, which was finished in Château De Laubade Armagnac barrels. So the cool thing is that these barrels, after first aging armagnac and then finishing BBC bourbon then went back to Château De Laubade to finish an armagnac. The circle of life. Isn’t that cool?! I have really wanted to get a hold of a bottle of this armagnac from the time I first time that I had heard of it, but it seemed like none of the 698 bottles made it to Kentucky. Fortunately my wonderful wife tracked one down in California and my wonderful brother-in-law muled it back for me.
L’Unique The Traveling Barrels Château De Laubade BAS Armagnac Single Vineyard, Cask Strength 48.4% ABV 50% Baco – 50% Ugni Blanc
Please enjoy my Château De Laubade L’Unique Armagnac Review.
The L’Unique Armagnac Backstory
Don’t worry! I haven’t become Armagnac Obsessed, but I actually am obsessed about this particular one. It’s part of a bourbon and armagnac love story, so to speak. Sort of like Romeo and Juliet but with a happier (and tastier) ending. If you’ll remember back in the early summer of 2020, the Bardstown Bourbon Company released their Château De Laubade Bourbon, which was finished in Château De Laubade Armagnac barrels. So the cool thing is that these barrels, after first aging armagnac and then finishing BBC bourbon then went back to Château De Laubade to finish an armagnac. The circle of life. Isn’t that cool?! I have really wanted to get a hold of a bottle of this armagnac from the time I first time that I had heard of it, but it seemed like none of the 698 bottles made it to Kentucky. Fortunately my wonderful wife tracked one down in California and my wonderful brother-in-law muled it back for me.
What is L’Unique?
According to the label: “‘L’Unique” is a blend of two 8-year-old single casks of Baco and Ugni Blanc, finished in one ex-Bourbon barrel for 8 months. In 2018, this barrel was shipped from Laubade to Bardstown Bourbon Company in Kentucky where it was used for maturing Bourbon. In 2020, the barrel was then shipped back home to conclude its transatlantic journey and give an incomparable finish to the Armagnac. “‘L’Unique – The Traveling Barrels” is an exclusive 698-bottle release for the US.
Front Label
Bottle Number
Neck Ring
Château De Laubade L’Unique Armagnac Back Label
Bardstown Bourbon Company Château De Laubade Bourbon
The L’Unique Armagnac Grapes
So, I am no armagnac expert, and in fact I had to do quite a bit of research to even understand the bottle. Apparently the two different grapes used in this armagnac – the Baco and Ugni Blanc – have an interesting history. The Baco was originally developed to be resistant to grape diseases and pests like phylloxera, and up until the 1970’s was the primary grape of Armagnac. Since then it has been largely replaced by Ugni Blanc (also known as Trebbiano) which is now the dominant grape in the region, although Baco is still used.
Tasting Notes
This armagnac is very enjoyable, and quite different from bourbon. Its fairly fruit-forward, dominated by apple, with some grape, raisin, oak, tanginess and a pastry-like character, with a fairly long finish.
In Conclusion
Can I pick out the bourbon flavors in the armagnac? I can’t say that I can, but I can certainly pick out the armagnac flavors in the bourbon. I guess I am missing one more bottle for comparison – the unfinished Château De Laubade Armagnac. Then I would probably notice the effect that the finishing had. Stay tuned!
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Quite neutral despite its obvious fruity nature the sweetness has been tempered by plenty of wood talking here and saying good things. I really enjoyed this one. 85/100
Quite neutral despite its obvious fruity nature the sweetness has been tempered by plenty of wood talking here and saying good things. I really enjoyed this one. 85/100
I’ve covered L’Encantada offerings several times now. For those that don’t know, these are all the rage in the Armagnac world at the moment which was kicked off by some truly exceptional single casks selected by one specific Brandy group a couple …
I've covered L'Encantada offeringsseveral times now. For those that don't know, these are all the rage in the Armagnac world at the moment which was kicked off by some truly exceptional single casks selected by one specific Brandy group a couple years ago. I've tasted most of those original Lous Pibous casks and they remain the best Armagnacs I've ever had. Ever since then, I feel like we've all been chasing the dragon trying to recreate that magic but thus far I've had mixed results. These days, I'm often leery of new L'Encantada picks because while none of them have been bad, my experiences with the ones I like vs. those that aren't worth the ever increasing cost of admission is batting around .500. It could just be me getting more crotchety when it comes to brown water but I'd suspect it's more likely that the best casks they have to offer have already been selected.
Having said all that, here today we have something which is a little different. Unlike all other L'Encantada products I've had which have been single casks, this product is blend:
Domaine Lous Pibous 1989 barrel #61
Domaine Lous Pibous 1987 barrel #87
Domaine Del Cassou 1994 barrel #55
Domaine Bellair 1997 barrel #181
I'm intrigued. My hope here is the range of ages makes for a nice of balance of the fruiter notes you get in younger armagnacs and the lush dark woody notes you get in older ones.
Bas Armagnac; No Age Statement (blend of four vintages); 46.8% ABV (cask strength); $100
Nose:Very bourbony - it smells like a middle aged 90ish proof bourbon. It's laden with caramel, a little bit of stone fruit, and a trace baking spice.
Taste:Fruity and sweet with heavy dose of strawberry. Armagnac almost always leans towards purple fruits for me but this is straight up strawberry jam. There are some wood sugar / caramel notes here too, like what a middle aged bourbon would carry. The finish is a bit short as is expected given the proof but some nice muted baking spice shows up to round things out.
Thoughts:I like this. It's got a lot of bourbon sweet notes and the blast of strawberry is really nice. Even better, it has none of the dry/bitter/overoaked notes I've been getting more often in some of the older L'Encantada picks I've had lately. The only thing here that's really holding it back is the proof. If this was in the 105-110 range I think this would be a knockout. All in all, this is a nice blend and I have no regrets for the price paid.
Rating: B
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
