Grande Champagne Session #2 Hors d'Age

Grande Champagne Session #2

It’s time for another Grande Champagne Session

GRANDE CHAMPAGNE SESSION #2

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cognacs from 3 different cognacs houses

#3

JLP Le Cognac de Jean-Philippe L.88 48,7%

87/100

JLP le Cognac de Jean-Philippe L.88 Hors d'Age tasting notes

So here is another Grande Champagne from JLP’s cellars. This one is a L.88 bottled at 48,7%. Let’s go!

Colour: Old gold, green lights. Regular heavy tears.

Nose: Full of flowery and citruses notes at first. Great orange zest marmalade and jasmine scents. Great freshness on mint syrup and pistachio in the background. A tad of berries syrup, mainly on grenadine and blackcurrant. Hints of round chocolate notes too.

Mouth: Sweet and a tad oily texture. Apricots and peaches juice. Pleasant fruity sugariness. Great nutty notes in the aftertaste, especially on hazelnut cream. Still some pistachio tones too. A tad of acidity on verjus and walnut oil in the mouth length.

Last Notes: Nice pastry notes with more air. Apple crumble smells surrounded by orange zest caramel notes. Still on citruses, mainly young fresh apricots and tangerine juice. Refined spicy scents on caraway and fennel. Nice roasted notes on toffee and cocoa powder. Back on the palate, you find great cooked fruits aromas, mainly on apricot tart and poached pears. It ends on fresh Sichuan pepper notes. The ABV seems to be at the right high by the way.

Great G.C, nicely balanced between fruitiness, spiciness and freshness. Not the most surprising but it does the job properly.

#2

Grosperrin Grande Champagne N°90 54,8%

88/100

Grosperrin Grande Champagne N°90 Hors d'Age tasting notes

This “young” G.C comes from Verrieres, one of the most reputed terroirs of this cru (where you also find François Voyer, and you’re only 2 kilometers away from Juillac-Le-Coq (Jean Fillioux). 

Colour: Amber, gold lights. Irregular (very) heavy tears

Nose: Very heady fruity scents at first. Quite camphory too. Spicy-tea-ish notes on verbena and nutmeg. Strong cooked vegetables notes (pumpkin, carrot, leek), enhanced by honeyed notes of candied cedar. A tad of young melon scents too underlined by reasonable tannins.

Mouth: Wow. Oily texture carrying an aromatic bomb. Still some delicious cooked vegetable notes seasoned with a strong herbs infusion on well-cooked rosemary and tarragon. Heavy licorice syrup aftertaste. Astringent oaky tones on burnt wood and roasted hazelnut. Maybe a little too much astringence, even if it remains very drinkable.

Last Notes: I added two tears of water for the end of this tasting session, thinking it could help a bit. Great flowery notes arise now on juniper and lavender. Nice spicy tones of ras-al-anouth and black pepper. Tannins strike back on linseed oil and rotten wood, but you also find some fruitiness on raisins and blackberry stew. Heavy plums liquor aromas on the palate. Atypical mouth length on tawny port wine notes and chestnut oil dryness. It ends on nutmeg and yuzu juice.

Well, not the kind of cognac for all palates. Quite « intellectual » (like the Oleron N°90, maybe more) as it requires a lot of attention and probably some various point of comparison to understand it at its fullest. A young G.C, but it’s seems quite difficult to say if it reached its maturity yet. A little of dilution makes sense with this kind of cognac in my humble opinion.

#1

Jean Fillioux Reserve Familiale 40%

89/100

Jean Fillioux Reserve Familiale Hors d'Age tasting notes

Still in the heart of Grande Champagne but with something a bit older now. Here is another one from La Pouyade after the N°1 and Malternative Belgium’s “La Flèche de Feu” and “Avec Allure”. This is a full G.C too, more precisely a venerable 45yo+ assemblage bottled at 40%  

Colour: Amber, hay lights. Regular heavy tears.

Nose: Full of candied citruses at first. Great heady notes of tangerine marmalade and citruses infusion underlined by various spices (mainly cinnamon). Candied cedar scents. Fig marmalade smells in the background. What a fruit spectrum in this nose. A tad of freshness on menthol and leather cream.

Mouth: Very sweet texture. Still very fruity. More on sultamine that what I previously perceived. Raisins, dried figs. A bit more exotic too : mango/passion fruit juice, Nice acidulous aftertaste on licorice sweets and pear liquor. Smooth freshness on cardamom and freshly cut basil. Great mouth length regarding the ABV.

Last Notes: Nice rancio on overripe apricots. Melted nutty and fruity tones, something like amandine pears scents. Caramelized shades on toffee and nougat sweets. A little of oaky notes on varnished wood. Ample spicy notes of ginger bread. Back on the palate, you find smooth roasted notes on tiramisu, but it remains very fruity with tinned plums and peach syrup. It ends on a strong sultamine note, something between raisins and dried prunes.

Great balance, not too oaky ( even if it was my first impression in cellars conditions). A very pleasant G.C, full of aromas. Maybe a little lack of originality to reach 90.

Jean Fillioux La Pouyade Hors d'Age tasting notes
La Pouyade Estate
Christophe Fillioux loves to try different type of casks to age his cognacs, that's why you find different cask brands in his cellars (Taransaud, Doreau, etc), more than 8 brands if I not mistaken, which is quite uncommon in the cognac world.

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