#494 Paradis(e)

Speak to a whisky buff and they will say that proper whisky is made in pot stills, essentially a big kettle, where they dump a load of beer into it and boil it.  You can also make whisky in a continuous still and are frequently used when making grain whisky, but these are often seen as lesser whiskies than single malts.  

The same applies with brandy where Cognac (pot stills) is perceived as being a better spirit than Armagnac (continuous) despite the latter being older, indeed Armagnac was one of the first areas in France that started distilling spirits.  There are two reasons for this, the first being that twice pot distilled Cognac is a smoother spirit compared to the once distilled Armagnac, and the second is that Armagnac tends to be made by smaller producers, whereas Cognac is made by big producers who have many millions of marketing Euros, and as we all know, perception is everything.  

Having said this, when Armagnac gets old, it can have an outstanding beauty and balance, and I was presented with the chance to try a trio of old brandies and I wondered how an old Armagnac would stand up to some younger Cognacs.  

First up was a 1982 Delamain Grande Champagne Cognac, landed in 1984 and bottled in 2007 at twenty three years of age.  It had super aromas of dried tropical fruit - papaya and pineapple - with some zingy, fresh summer flowers and evaporated milk leaping out of the glass.  The palate is very alive - some salty flavours mixed with dried fruit, a bit of tobacco and a lovely, leathery flavour.  Dry on the finish and very elegant.  91pts

Moving a little older was a 1979 Hennessy Grande Cognac, landed in 1981 and bottled at twenty seven years old in 2006.  Again, it lept out of the glass, bright honey and lemon aromas with some soft, peachy elements.  Very pretty.  The palate has a leanness to it, some old, polished wood meets dried citrus and a lovely spice coming through which warms throughout the palate.  A gorgeous clean, pencil lead finish that is delicious.  92pts

i then moved onto an old Armagnac, a 1950 Paul Loubere Bas Armagnac bottled in 1998 at forty eight years old.  It was a different beast!  Dark, coffee and lots of demerara sugar soaked raisin aromas.  A bit of pipe tobacco comes off the nose with a delicious perfumed, floral note to it, I really love this concentrated, dark aroma.  The palate has initial sweetness, then some dark caramel and a concentrated coffee flavour with some dark cigar smoke.  It is interesting, but not really that drinkable, and I think it has just got a bit too old.  86pts

In this case, the Cognacs won the day, but I really loved the nose on the Armagnac with it's dark, sweet aromas coming to the fore, the balance just wasn't there on the palate for me, whereas the Hennessy was delightful.  With this in mind, I decided to try another Hennessy Cognac, their Paradis.

Hennessy Paradis is a cognac made by blending together very old brandies from the extensive library stock they hold.  This brandy isn't their top spirit, but at £400 a bottle, it isn't cheap!  The brandy had aromas of flowers, subtle sultanas and a gorgeous creamy, slightly sweet perfumed character.  Tiny amounts of orange zest and orange oil come through as well and just a touch of toffee.  The palate is very subtle with warm, slight spice and a nutty element coming through the dried fruit and aniseed flavours.  Hints of clove and a beautiful dry, floral flavour.  It is simply sublime.  99pts

The Paradis simply blew the other brandies out of the water, being as near to perfect a brandy as you could hope to get.  It has elegance, grace and an ease of drinking, yet every time you put the glass to your lips it astonishes you how good it it.  Goes to show that rather than focusing on vintage, blending various years together to create a masterpiece might be the best way forward for brandy producers!