Sigognac - 10 Year Old Armagnac
The Sigognac is an independent family owned house in the heart of the Armagnac region in south-west France. Armagnac is a distinctive style of Brandy. The grapes for Baron de Signognac have all been grown on the estate. It also owns and looks after its own distillery, the ageing cellars and even the bottling facility - something quite rare today.
It is made using column stills - pot stills are used for cognac production. Another interesting difference between armagnac and cognac is that armagnac is traditionally distilled just once, which results in an alcohol level of approximately 52% and a complexity of flavour. The aging process removes some of the alcohol, and is known rather poetically as "the angels share". Cognac is distilled twice. Armagnac is one of the oldest distilled drinks in France, and like many other spirits was first concieved for medicinal purposes.
The company owns one short column still which is almost a century old, and it produces around 50-60 casks a year.
Very supple with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, sweet vanilla notes and a lovely array of fresh flowers and orange peel. On the palate this is rich and earthy with notes of conserves and peels, butterscotch, sweet spices, oak. A superb finish with marzipan, hazelnut and custard.
Bottle Size: 70cl
Abv: 40%