Marie Duffau Bas Armagnac Napoleon

The highest selling Armagnac in the USA. According to the back label, Prosper Delord (born 1975) started the company. He gained a reputation for his dedication and expertise by carting his traveling pot out to the farms in the Bas Armagnac region. He married Marie Duffau and in 1925 they officially founded the company with their son Gaston.

Using only estate-grown grapes from the heart of Bas Armagnac, this 6-year-old expression has a complex array of aromas. Dried fruits such as prunes, apricots, and raisins fill the headspace of the glass. The taste has warming flavors of caramel, plum, and spice that leave your palate fully coated and fulfilled.

Today, they own 35 hectares of vineyard in the heart of Bas Armagnac, and the company is run by their great-grandsons. The Armagnac is produced from a single distilling process and matured in a combination of limousine and Gascon oak. While not directly stated, natural color is implied for this product.

The marriage of Prosper Delord, traveling distiller, and Marie Duffau, heiress to several hectares of vineyards in the 1890s has resulted in this golden amber elixir. Intense sweet caramel and vanilla notes on the nose meet flavors of caramel, fig, and vanilla with a light floral note on an enduring finish.

The opening nosings find smells of roasted chestnut and baked pear; later sniffings pick up succulent notes of pineapple, caramel, black raisins, prunes, and old oak. The palate entry is creamy textured and semisweet; at the midpalate, the flavor becomes integrated and very nutty/woody. Concludes oily, semisweet, and oaky. Best Buy.