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Fahrenheit 173 - Aged Spirits
"If it's not good enough to drink slowly, then it's not worth drinking"
Five VSOP Cognacs | 10 Oct 2011 | ||
Croizet VSOP:
Dried fruits, raisins and orange marmalade on the nose - rather nice but a little heavy on the fruits. The palate is
light and subtle. Almost bland at first but develops spices and a little oak. Spicy, oaky finish with vanilla, dried fruits
and apricot marmalade but the oak dominates. At the end there's only dull oak left. Starts with a nice nose but
goes downhill from there.
(80 p)
Dupuy VSOP:
Fragrant nose with tropical fruits, apricot and passion fruit. Also notes of heather and honey. Quite sweet palate with
citrus and toffee. A little rum-like. Also a note of mint and a little oak providing structure. Fairly oaky yet simple finish.
All in all it's unusual and unusually sweet. It has fresh citrus fruits rather than dried fruits which is more common in
Cognacs. Works best as an aperitif.
(81 p)
Albert Jarraud VSOP:
Nice, fresh nose with vanilla, oak, citrus and mint. Nice palate - mild, balanced and complex. It's sweet with
notes of orange, dried fruits and oak. Develops more oak, also pepper. Rather nice finish with oak and gingerbread.
All in all nice, smooth and complex but a little lacking in character. It's also a little too sweet for my liking.
(82 p)
Larsen VSOP:
Very nice nose with notes of oak, plums and caramelized sugar. The palate is mild and sweet, develops oak,
spices and peppermint but also a slightly disturbing earthy note. A little lacking in balance yet rather nice. Lovely
finish though, with citrus, mint and oak.
(84 p)
Meukow VSOP:
Nice, complex nose with oak, spices, gingerbread, dried fruits (figs) and a hint of cheese. Fairly mild palate with
oak and sweetness in a nice balance. Notes of dried fruits, citrus and mint. Complex, rather nice. Nice finish -
oaky, spicy and warming.
(85 p)
I bought the first three Cognacs while visiting Finland a while back. I had never seen those brands before and now I realize why: they are the three worst VSOP:s I've tried. The Larsen was nice (Larsen is always nice, if unspectacular) and I found the Meukow much nicer than last time I tried it - makes me curious to try their higher-end bottlings.
Related link:
All my tasting notes on VSOP Cognacs
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