Baron de Lustrac 1995 Vintage Armagnac 70cl

Baron de Lustrac 1995 Vintage Armagnac will make an ideal present for anyone celebrating a 30th birthday or a wedding anniversary from 1995. This 1995 vintage Brandy offers a rich and complex flavour profile and gifting a bottle from someone’s birth year is a great way to celebrate an important birthday or other milestone.

Armagnac is a type of brandy from Southwest France that claims to be the oldest spirit in the world. It has been recorded as being distilled and appreciated since 1411 and, in former times, was even used for medicinal purposes. Armagnac is also a region, part of the southwest of France, and is divided into three “sous-appellations”: Bas-Armagnac, Ténarèze, and Haut-Armagnac. Armagnac, along with its more illustrious relative Cognac, is one of the two most famous French Brandies. Vintage Armagnac is a spirit produced from a single vintage.

Established in 1994 by husband and wife team José Barbe and Ina Bornemann, Baron de Lustrac is a small Armagnac brand known as an éleveur-negociant or “merchant-producer”. As an éleveur-negociant, Baron de Lustrac works with a small number of producers and growers (around twenty) throughout the Armagnac region. The producers age the Armagnac in oak barrels at their cellars, but Baron de Lustrac is responsible for monitoring the ageing of the eau de vie, blending, and bottling the final product. Thus, Lustrac has a huge amount of control over the final product. All their Armagnacs, like this Baron de Lustrac 1995 Vintage Armagnac, are bottled at their bottling cellar in Nogaro in the heart of the Armagnac region.

After distillation, the crystal clear, colourless spirit (known as eau-de-vie, literally water of life) is followed by maturation in 420 litre oak barrels made from Limousin or Monlezun oak from Gers. It is here, in the barrel, that the Armagnac leaches vanillins and tannins from the toasted oak which lends the spirit colour and flavour. The depth of colour, ranging from pale straw through to rich amber, and the complexity of flavour increase all the time the spirit is aged in cask. It takes about 10 years of maturation in the barrel for the true quality of Armagnac to emerge. It is at this point that all the balance, complexity and roundness one expects from a quality spirit begins to come through. When Armagnac is aged for even longer periods the spirit becomes darker in colour, softer, smoother and more elegant on the palate, whilst aromas and flavours of prunes, violets, fig, honey, butterscotch and rancio develop. Part of the alcohol evaporates naturally during the long years in the cask – this is known as “la part des anges” (the angel’s share).

Baron de Lustrac 1995 Vintage Armagnac is presented in an old-fashioned Cognac bottle (known as a Rothschild Bottle) and wooden gift box. These limited edition bottlings are only available in very limited quantities.

Also in 1995

January 1st – Austria, Finland and Sweden join the European Union.

May 7th – Jacques Chirac is elected president of France.

June 24th – South Africa wins the Rugby World Cup.