I’m afraid I have very little experience with artisan armagnac, the single-distilled sister of cognac, but I’m always interested to discover new malternatives.
Domaine Boingnères, run by the Lafitte family, was founded in 1807 and is located in Le Frêche, in the Grand Bas-Armagnac region. For six generations is has been praised for its quality.
This particular example is unusual as it is distilled from a single grape varietal: Folle blanche, the traditional grape in Armagnac, as it used to be in Cognac before the phylloxera. The company focuses on Folle Blanche (50%) but also uses Ugni Blanc and Colombard grapes. They produce around 30-40 barrels of armagnac per year and their stocks go back to around 1964.
Domaine Boingnères 24 yo 1984
(48%, OB +/- 2007, Bas-Armagnac)
Domaine Boingnères 24 yo 1984Nose: round, with a base of sweet raisins and oranges, and then layers of spices (cinnamon and pepper) and polished furniture. Thick honey and apple syrup. Aniseed. A very nice nose, complex and elegant.
Mouth: some heat of brandy, a short burst of fruits (apricots, oranges, prunes) and then a wave of dry spices again. Pepper, clove, cinnamon. Hints of dark chocolate. Big notes of herbal tea. A little mint.
Finish: quite dry now, with a slight woody bitterness and some earthy notes. Still some minty notes.
A great spirit. Fairly elegant, despite the rougher profile compared to double-distilled spirits. Rich fruits as well as some punchy spices. It used to be around € 180 – quite expensive and prices have risen since I bought it. Now sold out, as far as I can see. Other 1980s vintages are still available.