Swell de Spirits Cognac Pasquet L83 51,9%

SWELL DE SPIRITS COGNAC PASQUET L83 51,9%

Surfing on Petite Champagne wilderness

Despite the Charente river stillness,  the cognac region is sometimes one of the most privileged surfing spots. If you don’t believe me, well, you might take a sip of the cognac I’m about to taste. 51,9% P.C. The kind of wave you usually find only in Hossegor or Nazaré. Let’s ride on this L83!

Colour: Old gold, gold lights. (Very) heavy regular tears. 

Nose: White peach, strong bitterness on orange zest. Freshness on acacia honey. Apricot marmalade. Jasmine, bourbon vanilla. Candied orange. Almond paste/marzipan Chestnut honey. Strong peach syrup notes in the background.

Palate: Tense structure on fruits liquor, especially tangerine liquor. Vivid freshness on cedarwood and peppermint. Great acidity/bitterness combo on candied citruses (yuzu, green lemon zest) and pear juice. Nice mouth length provided by the generous ABV (51,9%). Pineapple syrup bomb (a bit like in the Cognac Sponge No. 68). It ends on dried prunes and tinned plums. 

Last Notes: Brand new wood scents. Linseed oil. Dusty woodwork shop. Heady smells of citruses behind. So much strength in this nose. Maybe a bit too much in my humble opinion. Nutty scents chestnut/walnut oil. Freshly ground coffee too. Back on the palate, you find other sherry cask whisky notes like raisins, dry walnuts, prunes cake. A tad of toffee aftertaste too and you get a full spoon of fig jam with it. It ends on green lemon juice and Sichuan pepper. 

This Swell de Spirits Cognac Pasquet L83 is a tad too unbalanced for me. Cask strength has some very good sides, but it can’t be the universal answer, and that’s even more true when we’re talking about cognac. However, there are some very nice aspects in this one, especially the fact that it gives an unusual (and pleasant) expression of this cru. The first cognac of many for sure for this young IB. 

My very subjective note: 87/100

More info on Swell de Spirits website

Thanks Michael for this one!