Chateau de Lassalle Hors d'Age

The Pretty Lady, her mother and I went to the Holly Bush Inn for lunch. I hadn't been there for a while, and they've now put their digestifs and stickies on the back of their food menu. There were several whiskies, including a Benrinnes 1973 that I might just go back specially to try, several cognacs and a single armagnac. That sold me. If it wasn't the armagnac, it was going to be the Benrinnes.

Anyway, the bottle of armagnac behind the counter did catch my eye, so I decided to try it. Good thing I did too - I got the last of the bottle. I do like that when that happens, because I get a slightly bigger dram (or portion, in this case).

Chateau de Lassalle Hors d'Age (Marquisat?)
Single producer armagnac - Bas Armagnac (Gers)
44% ABV
Amber rose

Nose: Mint, rose, white grape, brown paper, hints of white wine.
Mouthfeel: Light body, slightly oily.
Tasting: Sweet salty. Vanilla, caramel, toffee, butter, smoked ham, hints of apple.
Finish: Short. Caramel, earl grey tea, chocolate.

This one gave me a little bit of trouble, and I'm not sure if I've correctly identified the producer. In Armagnac, by Charles Neal, the property Marquisat, run by the Mao family, is identified as owning the Lassalle distillery and distilling under the name Lassalle of Gondrin. This is as close as I can get - there isn't a producer listed as Chateau de Lassalle. Anyway, Marquisat is located in the town of Gondrin, as is the Domaine des Cassagnoles, and the current proprietor, Corentin Mao, has been bottling his own armagnacs since 1969.

There isn't a great deal of information about this producer. Besides the Hors d'Age (minimum age is 10 years old for this designation), they also produce several vintages. There's definitely a 1979, and my reference books say that there's also 1977, 1976 and 1972.

Vineyard size: 50 hectares
Chai: Organised, cement floor, dry.
Soil: sables, boulbenes (sand, sand with clay pieces).
Barrels: Gascon.
Grapes: Ugni Blanc (60%), Columbard (40%).

- from Armagnac by Charles Neal