What We Know
- XO (youngest in blend at least 10 years old)
- Grande Champagne
- Grapes: Unknown
- Lees: Unknown
- Oak: Unknown
- 40% ABV
- Additives: Unknown
Nose
Honey, caramel, fruitcake, cinnamon, nutmeg, jasmine, milk chocolate, tobacco leaf, undergrowth, toasted almond, pear, nectarine, lemon zest, candied orange, plum
Palate
Madagascar vanilla, Acacia honey, cinnamon, ginger, rose, licorice, milk chocolate, leather, hazelnut, stewed apples, grapefruit peel, overripe peach, prune
Finish
Clove, chalk/limestone, raisin
Overall Thoughts
Strong apricot color with reflections of marigold. At first, the nose seemed fairly fruit forward with its candied orange, pear, and a touch of stone fruit that jumped out quickly. After a moment, the sweet honey and caramel started to show along with tobacco and baking spice. A nice sweet nutmeg aroma kept coming to the forefront. After some time, there was a welcoming soft hint of jasmine.
On the palate, it starts very dominate with honey and vanilla and moves into milk chocolate. The chocolate is fairly noticeable throughout this tasting. In addition, overripe peach and some darker fruits hit mid palate. Cinnamon, anise, and leather are fairly apparent. A salted peanut brittle note came up that was very interesting. Much like the soft jasmine on the nose, the palate showed an equally delicate rose flavor. To end it, the finish was medium-long and relied heavily on that dry chalk flavor and raisin lingered for a while.
This was a fairly difficult cognac to pin down. Not in the analysis, but in the specifications. I bought this bottle at a Total Wine in Washington state. Their Spirit Direct line up is only sold in the USA at their store locations. These cognacs include ABK6, Reviseur, Chatelier, Leyrat, Planat, A. de Fussigny, and a few others.
The Forgotten Casks are, essentially, blends purchased by a company or small business to sell themselves. This specific bottle was from 2018 and it was the first (maybe only?) batch from this release. In typical Total Wine and retail fashion, there’s basically no information out there about this bottle. The label does confirm it’s an XO age range and from Grande Champagne, which the rose element I feel points to that easily. But past that they aren’t forth coming about more information. It’s bottled by Château Paulet, but who knows where it originally came from?
Without any factual information about it, this review was strictly based off the liquid. The nose was interesting enough with a lot of layers to it. The palate, however, was a little one dimensional for my tastes. Not bad, but slightly muddy and I felt it didn’t know what it wanted to be. That’s the risk you take with someone that might not have a lot of experience in spirit tasting picking a barrel or blend for you. Maybe they really enjoyed it, but some different palates might say otherwise.
The bottle also has a sticker on it that says, “Perfect Cigar Match.” As I’ve stated before, I’m not a smoker, but I couldn’t agree less on this statement. Cigar blends should be big, punchy, and have a distinct palate. With the 40% ABV and flavor that doesn’t have any direction to it, this would not hold up against tobacco smoke. In the end, I would not buy it again for the price paid. Maybe other Forgotten Casks are great. I’m sure they are. Just not this one.
