So, apart from this being a ridiculously old Cognac, there’s more to the story.
The guys that run Jack Tarbought a bottle of Cognac in auction a few years ago, a bottle that was about 260 years old. It was a Gautier from 1762, to be exact. They tried it and thought found it amazing. After this they set out to find another great Cognac because they had an idea for this.
After trying several 1962’s, as they wanted it to be 60 years old, 200 years younger than the Gautier, they settled on this Vallein Tercinier from a Dame Jeanne. That’s a glass flask containing 70 liters, so exactly 100 bottles of ridiculously old Cognac. To that they added (some of) what was left of that 200 year old Cognac so they could share this liquid history with more people.
Of course, as they indicated as well, these few drops won’t change the other 70 liters by any means, at least not significantly. I guess it’s more about the concept of drinking something that was made almost 50 years before Charles Darwin was born.
A little while ago I got a sample of this Vallein Tercinier and gave it a go recently. Of course, I’m not a Cognac guru, but I have found I rather love this new wave of Cognacs that have started showing up the last couple of years.
Sniff:
Somehow, I am getting something I can only describe as ‘smooth oak’. Copper, orange, tangerine, boiled grapes. Madeleines, and lemon drizzle cake.
Sip:
More intense than I though, while also tasting so very old. Some oak, but not a lot. Dried tangerines, corky wood mulch, copper polish too.
Swallow:
The finish is very consistent, with a bit more dryness and a bit more orange sweetness. Old oak, old citrus fruits, lemon drizzle cake.
For something this old, it’s surprisingly fresh. The citrus notes are rather complex and quite lovely indeed. In short, this is utterly amazing stuff. There is so much to discover and with it being so old, but partially ‘aged’ in glass, it’s a very different thing compared to whisky. I guess that makes me a little unfamiliar to the flavors, but still. There is so much going on, as I said before.
Utterly amazing stuff!
