Château Laballe Bas Armagnac 1972

Great, aged Armagnac can convey a deep sense of place in a manner that is rare in the spirits world, and Laballe’s fabulous examples are loaded with personality, fine textures and flavours that echo across the palate. Distilled in the domaine’s 1923 wood-fired copper still, these Armagnacs then age in Chêne Noir Gascon—410-litre barrels made of oak from the nearby Landes forest—until they are bottled for sale. The extended maturation within this thick-grained oak imparts plenty of tannin and spice, giving Laballe’s vintage Armagnac its distinctive style., There is no addition of colour, and all the spirits are bottled brut de fût—unfiltered and at their natural alcohol level—often from a single barrel.

100% Baco grape. From a strong year for Armagnac in general, a mere drop of this ‘72 floods the palate with aromas and flavours of toast, vanilla, grapes, leather and roasted nuts. It’s wonderfully rounded (in the Laballe style) with excellent persistence and charming finesse. The finish is warming, lightly spiced and exceptionally long. If you know a spirit lover born in this year, don’t hesitate.