What We Know
- 24 years old (distilled in 1994, bottled in 2018)
- Borderies, single cask
- Ugni Blanc
- Distilled with no lees
- Limousin oak
- 52.8% ABV
- Additives: None, but very small reduction with water over many years
Nose
Honey, caramel, fruitcake, white pepper, mild clove, nutmeg, jasmine, violets, soft oak, milk chocolate, nougat, grass, toasted almonds, Asian pear, lemon zest, orange marmalade, unripe pineapple, mango, yellow raisin
Palate
Butterscotch, salted caramel, brioche, clove, ginger, cream, dark roast coffee, cocoa, spearmint, Granny Smith apple, lime, grapefruit peel, cherry, plum, dried figs
Finish
Honey, violets, yellow peach
Overall Thoughts
Goldenrod color with reflections of straw. Wonderful flower aromas and honey jump from the glass. Orange marmalade and some tropical fruits mingle with light barrel spices. There’s just a touch of white pepper and clove. Toasted almond comes through after sitting for a bit. There’s even a little nougat and milk chocolate that get accentuated by lemon peel.
Sweet butterscotch and caramel are dominate right away in the mouth. They fade quickly into some ginger and intense clove. The fruit flavors were a bit hard to decipher with the very high ABV, so I added a ¼ ounce of water. It definitely needed it. Now I’m getting Granny Smith apple, lime, grapefruit, and cherries. Cream and brioche lead to candied walnut. The finish is pretty substantial. Honey starts again followed by violets and ending with an everlasting yellow peach.
This Through the Grapevine (TTG) is a single cask Borderies 1994 barrel from Fanny Fougerat. Before my tasting even started, it was worth noting the color. For a cognac aged 24 years, it looked more like a VS. TTG uses no additives whatsoever (only a bit of water from time to time). Without caramel coloring, what we see in the glass is all natural. While I don’t know the specifics of the type of barrel besides it was Limousin, my guess is this never saw new oak. Since there aren’t many spice elements to this offering, we can deduce the barrel was perhaps a red barrel or fairly neutral.
I’m not one to normally add water to a cognac during a tasting. This one I recommend doing so as the proof is very high. Again, that’s a hallmark of TTG. They only offer higher proof expressions with little to no water reduction. Once the water hit, it really opened up nicely and the fruits were more apparent. Classic Borderies violets make the terroir undeniable. Just start with a dropper and add more if you need it.
The finish lasts quite a while and is pretty impressive. My last sip was over 10 minutes ago and I’m still tasting it. The finish is crazy long! I’d describe this cognac as leaning more fruity and floral than anything else. But it’s also very dry. While this specific TTG bottling from Fanny Fougerat was released in 2018, there’s a chance you can still find it in the wild. Being one of the highest proof expressions I’ve seen from TTG, if you enjoy really punchy whiskies, give this one a go.
