The WhiskyNerds are back – their latest release was a Secret Islay back in 2023, right? They’ve now selected a 30 year old brandy from France.
The fact that this spirit was bottled in the UK makes it a French Brandy instead of a cognac. This is is often called early landed, referring to Hine cognac, which was the only brand that got an exception to the requirement to bottle all cognac within its origin. Grande Champagne tells us enough though. We’ve seen similar 1993 releases from the Thompson Brothers and The Whisky Agency for instance.
French Brandy 30 yo 1993 – Grande Champagne (46,3%, WhiskyNerds 2024, cask #35, 159 btl.)
Nose: a lot of juicy plums, preserved cherries and raisins, followed by fig jam and blackcurrants. Hints of dark chocolate and tobacco leaves, as well as wild cherry wood. Cigar boxes. Then some cinnamon and old leather, armchairs as well as a hint of verbena tisane.
Mouth: very generous again, with plenty of rancio notes as well as a leathery dryness and a clear tannic layer. Plums and dates, along with toffee and dark chocolate again. Mid-palate a mentholated freshness comes out, along with herbal tea and whiffs of brighter fruits, like bergamots and peaches. Then back to mocha, some liquorice extract and old wood.
Finish: long, reasonably elegant but on the verge of becoming overoaked. Wood oils, and cigar boxes with bitter chocolate and late mentholated notes.
A very rich and bold style, hesitating between rustic notes and more elegance. On the one hand you could compare it to a PX sherry cask in whisky, but on the other hand it has very little sweetness and a lot more wood in general. A nice experience but a tad extreme. Retailers can be found on the WhiskyNerds website.