1964 Chateau de la Grangerie Leon Beyries "La Hauresse" 60 Year Old K&L Exclusive Armagnac (750ml)

Staff Reviews

AH

Aaron Hughes

Aaron Hughes

First, what an absolute treat. A 54 year old Armagnac for just $150 is an insane deal, further highlighting how underappreciated Armagnac is compared to the better known Cognac, to the detriment of the consumer. The complexity on the nose is just crazy. There's an intense yet delicate florality that blends into caramels and hints of mocha with generous amounts of ripe fruit. This is the kind of spirit you could just swirl and sniff all evening and find something new time and time again. The palate is mind-blowingly smooth with the mocha notes shining out even more brightly and twining and interplaying with the caramel and the still very fresh fruit on the palate. As the palate turns toward the finish, it's long and savory with nice amounts of barrel spice accompanying the white pepper and tobacco. This is a truly special Armagnac and you'd be doing yourself a disservice passing this up.

Notes

Chateau de la Grangerie is a property that was built in the 17th century right next to an old monastery. The church and the housing for its servants was actually built in the 11th and 12th centuries and since the Armagnac is aged inside that facility, it might be the only spirit at K&L matured on hallowed grounds. Like many Tenereze producers, Grangerie distills only Ugni Blanc for its brandies. However, the sandy and gravel-rich soils are much more like the terrain found in the Bas-Armagnac. They fill about ten barrels a year, two of which are used for Floc de Gascogne and one goes to Pruneau which is a prune-flavored brandy made by macerating the Armagnac with the dried fruit also grown on the property. Considering that 50 year single malts are selling for five-figure prices, the fact that we're able to offer a directly-purchased Armagnac at 50+ years of age for $150 is almost laughable. This is a rich, dark, intensely-concentrated brandy with layers of spice, charred oak, cocoa, and intensity. Beautifully-adorned with an old-school label, we don't expect this to be in stock for very long.