Armagnac Séailles 32 y.o. GOTA 1988 – 11.2021, Cask #76, 203 btl., 50% (Cask Strength, Ugni Blanc Grapes, Tenareze)

Comment: This is a Tour de Force, a big boy, not your average Armagnac, also different from the previous Séailles release. Bold, bitter, balsamic and spice-laden start. Jamaica meets Armagnac … lamp oil on mahogany, resin, glue, licorice and cloves accompany candle wax, flowers, mint leaves, brown banana and rum. Holy feathered cow! It becomes sweeter now on marzipan, nuts and grapejuice. I also get some aniseed. Powerhouse, muscle show, not sublte at all. On the palate it arrives rather dry with a combo of wooden bitterness and juicy wine aromas, also becoming sweeter with time. Mulled wine, cloves, nutmeg, tar and resin, many spices. The finish rounds off this wild ride on bitter chocolate and grapes. Altogether, not for the faint-hearted or the purist, this is atypical yet interesting, whatever you prefer. For me, being a fan of harmony and finesse, this is too much – but I know this Armagnac will split the crowd. Try for yourself. I did three times, too much disco for this old dude writing this note. Thanks for letting me taste it anyway, GOTA-team!

Score: 86

Armagnac De Belair 27 y.o. GOTA 11.1993 – 11.2021, Cask #8L, 120 btl., 52,2% (Baco Grapes, Bas Armagnac)

Comment: Way more my style of Armagnac, what a joyous nose of harmony. A classic with reminiscence of an old Sherry Malt, slight noble dryness. Freshly polished mahogany furniture with some dust in forgotten corners, dates, maraschino-cherries and raisins, hazelnuts and coconut touch, menthol, Asian spices, lemon grass, Javanese cubeb pepper, pastry, vanilla, berry-joghurt – Baco bang! It tastes just like the nose suggests, butter and nuts create rancio, Sherry, balsamic notes, well-tuned. The finish is becoming sweeter and fruitier, medium length. A fine Armagnac in an old style. Great choice! Get this!

Score: 89 – 90