Domaine d’Aurensan 20 Years Blend
1. What they say
We have been Harvesting Owners since the end of the 19th century. The Domaine d’Aurensan is our family home.
Our family vineyard extends over more than 7 hectares on the clay-limestone soils of the Ténarèze.
We work our vines at their own pace and according to their needs, throughout the year. Particular care is taken with pruning, in order to optimize the quality of the harvest and the longevity of the vine.
We pick the grapes when they have reached the ideal maturity for distillation, the grapes must have a high level of acidity and a low level of sugar.
Once the harvest is complete, vinification can begin. It is absolutely natural, no oenological product is added (sulphur, chemical yeasts, etc.).
The cellars of the Domaine have a high hygrometry which favors a slow and progressive ageing. Our pieces (traditional Armagnac barrels, 420 liters), made with the wood of the oaks of the property, bring all their aromatic singularity to our eaux-de-vie because it is wood that the eau-de-vie vie extracts the secondary aromatic compounds which it then takes a long time to mature.
The bottling of our Armagnacs is done to order, it is done by hand and at the property, without filtration. It is this moment that freezes the aging of the eau-de-vie, so it is a determining date for the age of Armagnac. It appears on each of our bottles.
2. Official tasting notes
An assemblage of vintages from 1975 (dried figs), 1981 (prunes and roasted notes), 1990 (floral) and 1995 (citrus).
3. Details
- ABV 42%
- Age 20 Years Old
- Bottler OB
- Bottling 20 ANS
- Cask French Oak
- Category Armagnac
- Cost £100
- Origin Domaine d’Aurensan
- Outturn n/a
- Region France
- Released 2016
- Vintage various
4. What I say
A blended 20 year old Armagnac from the family run Domaine d’Aurensan. Their approach includes a careful selection of vintages to balance the final blend of which they reference, so although the youngest component of this blend is 20 years old, the oldest was 40 when added to the blend.
5. The Whiskyphiles tasting notes
- Colour Dark bronze (16/20), slow, medium-large tears and medium legs.
- Nose Woody and spicey, herbal, chewy and tannic oak wood, fruits, red grape, fig, date, and red and black cherries in abundance, floral hints.
- Taste A mixture of menthol and herbal, light liqourice root, neutral woody sugars, treacle, tocuh of wood char, nutty, fibrous oak and woody herbs, rosemary, fresh and dried figs, prunes, dates, cocoa powder.
- Finish Long, woody, herbal, chocolate.
6. Overall
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!
The Whiskyphiles 