Another first for this blog — a cognac review! — but I’ve been enjoying good cognac for a couple of years now. Naturally, I simply skipped over the mass-market Remy Martin, Hennessy, Camus and their ilk — if bland whisky isn’t worth the time, cost and liver damage, sure as hell bland cognac isn’t either. A Parisian shop owner suggested I should advance through cheap and simpler cognacs to more complex and costly ones over time to know how to appreciate it, but I coldly count on a palate trained to appreciate complex whisky will not underappreciate a quality cognac. Maybe I’m like the guitarist who’s starting to play bass, and underestimating the differences in skill needed to master these instruments? Well, I am literally a guitarist who’s thinking about buying a bass, and since I have such an amazing electric guitar whose premium features (ergonomics, multi-scale and extended range) I enjoy tremendously, why should I not get a bass with similar features if I can afford it? Well, in any case, my entry point into cognac was looking at what the specialist whisky retailers were stocking as ‘malternatives’. There I discovered Vallein Tercinier, bottled from a single cask (“brut de fût”), non-chillfiltered, no additives, with vintage and high age statements, and seemingly fair prices. On paper at least, it can’t get much better. So I took a chance, and am very glad I did. Along with a few other producers (like Grosperrin, Jean-Luc Pasquiet) VT indeed seems to be the darling cognac of the whisky world.
Vallein Tercinier | 32yo (1989) | 47.7% | Official
🌐
Cognac, Grand Champagne
🪵
cask no 117
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
💲
unavailable (€128)
bottle kill
Tasting notes
Nosing: Complex and fragrant. On the fresher end, citrus (orange, pomelo, Trocadero beverage), apple cider, elderflower; on the richer end, nuts, dried fruits (apricot, sultanas), autumn leaves / mushroom, soft oak. With perfumy notes of liquorice, tea, and saffron binding it all together. A nose to drift away in…
Sipping: Medium-sweet, mouthcoating, delivering intense flavours, with all the aspects of the nose present: fruits are leading the way (orange, apricot), accompanied by almonds, some liquorice, a hint of wax. Very long finish.
Comments
With this review I am finishing the bottle that I opened a year or two ago. I am very pleased that I had the good sense to buy two bottles — I get to enjoy this extraordinary spirit again sometime in the future, and then the uniqueness of its character will transport me back in memory to a particular time of my life.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
⚫⚫🟢
⚫⚫🟢
⚫⚫🟢
Glorious! The best malternative I have ever had
❤️ Personal favourite
Vallein Tercinier | 1984/2023 | 47.7% | Official (for Flickenschild)
🌐
Cognac, Petite Champagne
🪵
—
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
💲
sold out, ~€220
from a 4cl sample bottle
🗒️ Tasting notes
Nosing: Directly comparing with the 1989, it is very recognizably from the same producer; but here we leaning more towards the richer notes: brown sugar, more nuts and dried fruits (prunes) — but also ripe forest berries —, deeper oaky notes, and a more prominent savoury quality (I’m inclined to call it rancio). The orange and Trocadero remain here in full force; but the liquorice and saffron are less noticable.
Sipping: medium-sweet, indeed savoury, with a very silky texture, and small and pleasant amount of oak tannins. Nuts and dried fruits afore, some tobacco leaf, leather, and minty sensation. Long finish.
💭 Comments
Excellent stuff, but personally there’s a vibrancy and intoxicating perfumy quality with the 1989 that we’re not getting as much of here. The 1984 is not less good in any objective way, but my heart is with the 1989. I think some (like my father) would appreciate the 1984 more, as it’s bringing more of old-age character.
This was a bottling for Flickenschild (from whence I bought the sample), and it is sold out now. I can’t get info on what was the price, unfortunately. But the mini cost €13.90 for 4cl, and they tend to charge the minis 10% more per cl.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
⚫⚫🟢
⚫⚫🟢
⚫🟡⚫
All around tasty VT
Vallein Tercinier “Lot 30” | 1930/1995 | 40.6% | Official
🌐
Cognac, Petite Champagne
🪵
French oak single cask
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
💲
~€700
from a 2cl sample bottle
⚡Experience
Nosing: Incredibly fragrant, with ripe and dried fruits (strawberry coulis, dried apricot, prunes, tamarind, cola), again liquorice, lots of leather (old pair of gloves), wood (oak and some exotic wooden furniture), and gentle spices (nutmeg, clove, vanilla).
Sipping: Quite little light in texture, not too astringent, but a touch of a herbal kind of bitterness and more spicy than silky. Flavourful palate, albeit less impressive than the nose: dried fruits, nuts, coffee, and slight menthol. Long, pleasant finish.
💡Thoughts
This cognac was produced in 1930 and in 1995 transferred to demijohn. Only recently was it actually put into 70cl bottles. So we should consider it as ~65 years old, which is still quite impressive and by a margin the oldest drop I’ve reviewed. Actually have I ever tried something as old, either by age statement or production date? I think not.
The big show is on the nose. I’m starting to understand the meaning of “rancio” now, with these mature leather and fruit notes merged together into one complex but coherent impression. The palate, though, falls short of my high expectations. I imagine the distillers had good reason to stop maturation, and perhaps also to let it “calm down” in glass before bottling?
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
⚫🟡🟢
⚫⚫🟢
🔴⚫⚫
The nose of a bygone era
For the record, I first wrote a preliminary review of the 1989 and reviewed the Lot 30 in one sitting. A few weeks later I killed the 1989 bottle and finished the review, and also reviewed the 1984.
DuckDrams 
Leave a comment