2019 LaRoche-Vacquie "Double Oak" LRV-02 Small Batch Cask Strength Haut-Armagnac (750ml)

LaRoche-Vacquié is one of the most remarkable estates in Armagnac, a genuine pioneer in the revival of the tiny Haut-Armagnac appellation. Bruno Compagnon began producing Armagnac here in 1990, on a historic property overlooking Lectoure, after the region had spent nearly a century struggling to recover from phylloxera. His work earned him a knighthood in 1997, and today he and his son Morgan farm 62 acres of organic vineyards on the chalky limestone soils that give Haut-Armagnac its traditional name, "white Armagnac." Only a few acres are devoted to Armagnac, making each release exceptionally limited. This extraordinary single cask was distilled in 2019 from estate-grown Ugni Blanc and Colombard and bottled in 2026 after seven years in two distinctive French oak species: native Gascon pedunculate oak and fine-grained sessile oak from Tronçais. Cask #117 was bottled at its natural strength of 58.7% ABV without reduction or filtration. The estate is sustainably farmed without pesticides and powered by solar energy. Every bottle is sealed, labeled, dated, and numbered by hand. With only about 1% of the category produced in Haut-Armagnac, LaRoche-Vacquié offers a rare glimpse of one of France’s nearly forgotten brandy terroirs, presented here in an unusually powerful, completely unmanipulated form.