Château Laballe Bas Armagnac 2004

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% Ugni Blanc. This 2004 is still a youngster in Armagnac terms, yet there’s an immediate generosity and deep complexity from the first sniff. On the palate you get a lot of fruit freshness, caramel, and some woody green herbs—there’s quite a bit to unpack, so best to sit back, relax and let it unfurl in the glass. It has high energy, some sappy and grippy structure and a concentration of complexity that, when found, tends to make Armagnac drinkers smug in their choices.