Maker: Chateau de Laubade, Sorbets, Landes, France.
Grapes: Baco, Ugni Blanc.
Place of origin: Bas Armagnac
Vintage: 2000 (bottled at 20 y/o).
ABV: 52.4%
Thanks to Sku of Serious Brandy and Chateau de Laubade for the sample.
Appearance: Medium dark copper.
Nose: Aromatic. Alcohol, oak, maple syrup, oatmeal raisin cookies.
Palate: Full-bodied. Sweet and fruity, then big burn. Largely the same with water, but longer mid-palate.
Finish: Dried figs, horehound. burn, star anise. Less burn with water, naturally
Parting words: This brandy was one of the highlights of the Serious Brandy Facebook Group tasting earlier this year. You can view that event here.
This one didn’t stand out as particularly unique, but it tasted like a good, solid example of a well-made (pretty) old Armagnac. It’s rich and mature without being unbalanced or weird like some very old French brandies I’ve tried. Weird isn’t always bad, of course, but as with Scotch, too much oak and oxidation can ruin my drinking experience. There’s nothing not to like here.
I was able to find a price of about $130 for a 700 ml bottle of this online. That makes it outside of my usual price range, for sure, but you’d be hard pressed to find a 20 y/o cask strength single malt for that much these days. With that in mind, Chateau Laubade 2000 cask strength is recommended.
Sipology 