The wonderful aroma suggests juicy orchard fruit brushed with vanilla and cocoa. On the supersoft palate, a concentrated cocoa note leads to peach nectar, gingery spice and a delicate curl of orange peel on the finish. Made with a blend of four vintages, the youngest of which was aged 10 years.
98 points, Kara Newman, Wine Enthusiast (Dec 2018)
For Armagnac lovers, there’s nothing better than a great Ténarèze bottling, and this 20-year-old is a classic of the genre. Deep copper, with intriguing aromas of antique varnish, cedar, brown butter, and hazelnut. Even at this young age, the fruit has taken a step back, and though dried prune and apricot are still present, the more elemental notes come to the fore. On the palate, there’s exotic spice, old-fashioned snuff tobacco, and dark coffee. On the midpalate there is nuttiness, dried pepper, and serious rancio. A long, dry finish full of clay minerality. Absolutely stunning. (Ténarèze, 42.5% abv.)
Dark amber color. Aromas and flavors of old honey, Cuban cigar smoke slowly seeped into rich Italian leather over decades, duxelles with Herbs de Provence, and dried red berries on vanilla marzipan with mint with a round, lively, bone-dry medium-to-full body and a tingling, colossal, very long finish with touches of fruit cake and honey, cavendish tobacco, mixed nuts, and cherry balsamic glazed mushrooms. The kind of luxury spirit that is so good and well integrated with aromas and flavors that it leaves you temporarily dumbstruck asking yourself, "What is that delicious memory?"