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Fahrenheit 173 - Brandy

"I drink, therefore I am"   (Monty Python)

Five Spanish brandies

28-Jun-2009  
Gran Duque de Alba

Spanish brandies tend to be very rich and oaky which makes them heavier than French brandy (cognac and armagnac included). Because Spanish brandies are so rich I find they work best as digestifs. It took me a while to get used to the strong oak influence in Spanish brandies but nowadays I quite enjoy sipping one after dinner.

I've tasted a couple of recent purchases and revisited a few old acquaintances. The first three brandies come from Jerez in the very south of Spain (Jerez gave sherry its name, by the way) and the final two are made in Catalonia:

Gran Duque de Alba:
This is my favourite brandy (up to now, at least) so I'm using it as a benchmark. It has a rather nice nose with notes of prunes, raisins, vanilla and oak. Rich, sweet palate with vanilla and fruit. De­velops oak and spices. Dry, slightly dis­ap­point­ing finish, however. (85 p)

Lepanto OV (Oloroso Viejo):
Very nice nose with fresh citrus notes. De­velops dried fruits and gin­ger­bread, also oak. Rich, fairly nice palate with notes of raisins and prunes. Unfortunately the fruits quickly fade and are overtaken by very dry oak. (80 p)

Lepanto PX (Pedro Ximenez):
Very nice, fragrant nose with raisins, oak and vanilla. Nice, rich palate: fairly sweet with notes of dried fruits. Also rather oaky, but the oak isn't overpowering. Dry, oaky, spicy finish. This was a pleasant surprise after the dis­ap­point­ing "Oloroso Viejo". The PX is in fact on par with my previous favourite, the Gran Duque. (85 p)

Mascaró Narciso:
Nice nose with notes of grapes and plums. Rich, earthy palate, also fairly sweet with nice fruity notes. The finish is a little dis­ap­point­ing, however: dry, spicy and quite fiery. (83 p)

Torres 10:
Sweet, richly fruity nose with notes of cinnamon and oak. Rich and complex palate with prunes and oaky, spicy notes. Oaky, dry finish. All in all fairly nice. (83 p)


XO Cognac tasting

19-Apr-2009  
Martell Cordon Bleu

Unfortunately, I've been neglecting the brandy category for a while now. So when a friend of mine repeatedly raved about how good Martell XO was I told him to bring his bottle so we could do a little tast­ing! We tried six Cognacs of the XO quality (or thereabouts). Here are my tast­ing notes:

Otard XO:
Mild, sweet and fairly light palate with a very nice fruitiness and a note of vanilla. Smooth and bal­anced but a little spirity. (87 p)

Delamain Christmas XO:
Rather nice nose with oak and a flowery note. Mild palate, quite sweet and fruity with notes of raisins and plums, also citrus fruit, vanilla and iced tea. Very nice and very nicely bal­anced. (89 p)

Grönstedts Extra:
Very nice, fruity nose with a note of orange. There's also an unusual, almost chemical note re­min­is­cent of old Armagnac! Rich, fruity, complex palate, won­der­fully bal­anced with notes of vanilla, plum compôte and dark chocolate. (90 p)

Rémy Martin XO:
Wonderful nose with notes of prunes, figs and cinnamon. Spicy, minty, fairly light palate with citrus fruit. At first sweet but gets drier and de­velops oak and spices. All in all complex, bal­anced and "elegant". (91 p)

Martell Cordon Bleu:
Fragrant, fruity, complex nose with plum compôte, vanilla and oak. Slightly spicy palate with won­der­ful notes of oak and vanilla. Wonderful finish... (92 p)

Martell XO:
Wonderful nose - fresh and fruity with prunes and raisins and also lighter notes of citrus fruits. Lighter, fresher and with less oak than "Cordon Bleu" (and seems younger). Balanced, won­der­fully smooth palate with notes of plums, oranges, spices and christmas cake. It's sweet at first but drying, de­velops oak (finally). (93 p)

To begin with, I wasn't particularly impressed by the Martell XO. I found it extremely mild, rather "shy" and hard to figure out. It needed a quite a while in the glass to open up and after warming the glass in my hand the aromas and flavours became clearer. In the end I loved it!

Actually, the Martell XO equals the score of my previous favourite, the Tesseron Lot 29, so (of course) I chose it as the new bottling of the month.


Christmas Cognacs

11-Nov-2007  

Two Christmas cognacs have been added to the range at "Systembolaget" here in Sweden. One from Delamain (goes on sale on December 1) and one from Grönstedts (available now). I sat down and compared the two with their "ordinary" counterparts. Here are my tast­ing notes:

Grönstedts XO Christmas 2007:
Very nice, spicy nose with notes of gin­ger­bread and prunes. Rich, spicy, oaky and dry palate. Quite nice yet fairly fiery and a little too dry. (88 p)

Grönstedts XO:
Very nice nose with dried fruit and a note of gin­ger­bread. Rich, complex, fruity palate with notes of oak and vanilla. Fairly fiery finish. (89 p)

Delamain Christmas Cognac XO:
Mild, quite sweet and fruity with notes of raisins and plums, also citrus fruit, vanilla and iced tea. Very nice and very nicely bal­anced. (89 p)

Delamain Pale & Dry XO:
Fairly dry and oaky palate. Also fruity with a note of citrus fruit. De­velops a spicy bite. Very nice finish with notes of plums and spices. My first bottle of this was richer and nicer but this is still a very good cognac. (88 p)

All four cognacs are very good and quite close in quality. I found the Grönstedts Christmas cognac a little dis­ap­point­ing. It's too oaky and spicy for my taste. But because of that intensity, it might work well with coffee and a dessert... For a sipping cognac however, I'd rather get the won­der­ful Grönstedts Extra (at the same price) or the XO (which is both cheaper and better).

On the other hand, the Delamain Christmas XO is even better than the ordinary Delamain XO and it's actually a little cheaper. Highly recommended!