L'Encantada Armagnac Xo 4.0 (750ml)

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Producer	L'Encantada
Country	France
Region	Armagnac
Style	Brandy
Size	750ml

L’Encantada Armagnac

The year was 2011 – Vincent Cornu had been operating a local catering business based in the town of Vic-Fezensac, in the Gers departement of France, for years. As a hospitality business in the heart of Armagnac country, it was common for him to get together with some friends and local restauranteurs to buy a few liters of Armagnac in bulk that they would split up between their businesses. No branding, no business ventures – just a group buying some Armagnac for themselves and their guests at the end of a meal.

The landscape of Armagnac producers is a region dotted with thousands of small estates, most of which do not own their own stills, instead relying on a traveling distiller to stop by for a day or two and distill the year’s harvest. The producer grows the grapes, harvests and ferments them, and ages the distillate. Most of the time, smaller Armagnac producers do not even have their own brand – they distill the equivalent of one or two barrels a year and sell off quantities here and there when money is needed, retirement is near, etc. These producers tend to be involved in polyculture – grape growing isn’t necessarily their main or only crop.

The concept of L’Encantada was born when one of the suppliers Vincent frequently purchased Armagnac from reached out asking if he would be interested in buying not just a few liters, but their remaining handful of casks, as they were soon retiring. Vincent brought a few friends on board and accepted the offer.

ONE TERRITORY AND THREE TERROIRS
Fast forward nearly a decade later and the iconic orange waxed top bottle has gained a cult following, with many L’Encantada casks being highly sought-after by groups of whiskey and brandy enthusiasts. decade later the “orange waxed top” has gained momentum and some of these casks are highly thought after by groups of whiskey/brandy enthusiasts. Despite the huge growth, L’Encantada is still a passion project handled on evenings and weekends by a group of four friends.

Now, nearly every negociant business has more or less the same story, but what is distinctive about L’Encantada is the flavor profile that the company’s following was built on. It turns out that Vincent’s palate gravitates towards rich, extracted, wood-forward, higher proof Armagnac – a far cry from the watered down, 40%, sweetened and colored stuff that is often found on shelves. With no prior knowledge of American whiskey, and before the current Bourbon boom, L’Encantada has always been looking for big and bold Armagnac – those rare examples of the spirit that are aged mostly or entirely in new oak.

The early years were not so kind, as Vincent submitted samples of his finds to local and national competitions, only to draw criticism that this “wasn’t Armagnac”. But like many visionaries, he persisted. Fortunately, an American spirits enthusiast based in Europe bought a few bottles of an early release from the Lous Pibous estate, loved what he tasted, and proceeded to share it with his friends back in the US.

Since then, L’Encantada has arguably become the most sought after supplier of vintage, cask strength, unadulterated, single cask Armagnac in the US, while spearheading a revitalization of appreciation for Armagnac.

Armagnac Notes: 

XO Lot 4-A-CAUSE is comprised of eight single vintage casks:

Domaine Lassalle 1986 - barrels # 8 & 9
Domaine Del Cassou 1986 - barrel # 20
Domaine Grand Môle 1988 - barrels # 24 & 14
Domaine Cavaillon 2002 - barrel # 396
Domaine Pouy 2002 - barrel # 123
Domaine Pouy 2006 - barrel # 160