Trying something new. I really like reviewing spirits together for comparison, but three or more reviews all crammed into one post just feels like a lot.
To remedy this, I’m going to try a “series” format. Instead of writing one large post with multiple reviews, I’m going to write several shorter, thematically linked posts over the course of a few days.
Here’s my first attempt at the new format: “Jean-Luc Pasquet Across the Decades.” Let me know what you think about the new approach – I’d love to get some feedback.
JLP Across the Decades – #1
Background
In 1970, Jean-Luc Pasuqet was bequeathed Chez Ferchaud, located in Eraville, France. Now run by Amy and Jean (son of Jean-Luc) Pasquet, the estate maintains vineyards in both the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne growing regions.
In addition to distilling their own cognacs, the Pasquets also source and bottle cognacs from other producers, and all of the cognacs I’ll be reviewing this week were sourced in this way.
Today’s selection is a blend of three cognacs distilled during the 90s from the village of Eraville in Grande Champange. This was a bit confusing at first because the Pasquets are from Eraville, but apparently this was made by other producers who happened to live there. It was bottled at 42.8%.
Tasting
On the nose, I first get maple candy and dried flower petals. Then, stone fruits like peach and apricot, spices like cumin and coriander, blondies, raisin, and lemon candy. It’s a really nice nose.
The palate maintains the peach and apricot notes, but it’s just the skins – none of the sweet, tart flesh. I also get dried orange peel, marshmallow, and more of that coriander and cumin from the nose. The oak influence is about what I would expect from a 90s cognac, but it has an oaky bitterness that feels out of place. Adding even a little water does this no good, but this doesn’t strike me as being terribly watery to begin with.
Verdict
The nose made a really good impression, but sadly, this fell short on the palate for me. I enjoy a lot of the flavors this has to offer, but it just doesn’t feel as though it comes together cohesively. Though I don’t think dilution is the main problem here, I do wonder what this would have been like at a higher strength. (6/10)
Click here to view all posts in my “JLP Across the Decades” series.