1990 L'Encantada 27 Year Old "Domaine le Parre #18" Tenarèze Armagnac (750ml)

The Le Parre estate is the first Tenarèze producer that Encantada have worked with. The regions Armagnacs are much harder edged than the Bas-Armagnac to the West due to the preponderance of clay in the soils. There are certainly exceptional brandies being produced in the area and especially above 20 years old they can be exceptional. The nose here in a lot of ways is very typical Tenarèze, with more overt herbaceous quality and a dark gravelly quality. It's layered enough to not feeling overpowering and with some air we start to see something very much more than earthiness. Tons of dried stone fruits, apricots and dates. Hints of roasted nuts, wild honey and powerful dried spices. The savory quality on the nose braces you for a powerful dry entry, but this stuff goes completely the other way. Supple and round, without a hard tannin in site, the rancio fruit and candied nuts take over from the spice and herbs. Textured warm and long on the palate, it's no lightweight, but has an unexpected finesse for a Tenarèze. I feel like this deserves to be more expensive, but I just can bring myself to be that greed and pray that anyone who loves good brandy is able to afford a bottle of this benchmark offering from this special estate.