By Nick Rodgers
Samalens distillery
It’s a 5am start, and we’ve got a busy schedule for the next three days – a visit to our new Armagnac producers in Gascony, then it’s off to Cognac. Conveniently Easy Jet’s only flights to Bordeaux leave early Wednesday and come back late Friday night. Wait a minute, I obviously did not connect those words – ‘Easy’ ‘Jet’ ‘Late’ Friday’ – was it a disaster? Of course it was!
From Bordeaux airport it is a lazy taxi ride to the train station where we spurn the French pastries in favour of gooey looking muffins which turn out to be cloggy and inedible. France 1, England 0. France win again on the train down to Gascony – on time, comfortable, and spacious.
Then we arrive in Gascony, in the summer of 1904! Wait a minute, why is it over 20 degrees and where is everybody? On closer inspection we find a bull-ring, some churches and lots of fields. The locals in Gascony believe in rich food, strong spirits and rugby, so it is not unexpected when we learn that they always kill the bulls during the 5 day festival of bullfighting.
The Samalens distillery is in the heart of Bas Armagnac region, 80 miles West of Condom (snigger), and Pierre Samalens is waiting patiently for us with a big smile on his face, and a table loaded with foie gras and ‘interesting’ local wine in the middle of the eight stills.
Now this is not just any distillery, it is probably the most important distillery in the Armagnac region. Pierre’s family have been running this place since 1882 and have blended old with new, often being the first to bring in new innovations. So there are four traditional, alembic Armagnac stills – these use a basic continuous system which allows for relatively quick distillation but more importantly originally could also be transported on the back of a trailer to allow all the local farmers to distil their wines. Pierre has one of these in front of his property, and they could explain why Armagnac has had a bad name in the past, producing a rustic, raw spirit!
Traditional mobile Armagnac still
All four of the Samalens stills are fixed and at least 100 years old, and the only changes have been to introduce gas heating (Samalens were the first in 1962) and a simple but unique computer sensor to control the flow of wine. There have been no changes to the top rectification plates so the spirit comes off around 52%, which is unusual as most distilleries have put in extra plates to refine the spirit, up to 60% abv, to reduce the need for long ageing.
Instead the Samalens distillery proudly has 4 Cognac style Charentais copper pot stills that were installed in 1972 and which allow double distillation to produce a more rounded, mellower spirit which can be blended in to the 8yo VSOP. Although there are a couple of other distilleries that now use pot stills, Samalens are the only one to have both, plus they have another two other factors which are unique to Samalens as a negociant and contribute to them making the best VSOP on the market. Firstly, they make their own wine (which is crucial as the wine for brandy should be non-temperature controlled, acidic, unfiltered and undrinkable), and they distil their wine on the lees producing a gloriously fruity eaux de vie. They also use grapes from the very best region of Armagnac.
So after a three hour lunch and an enthralling conversation with Pierre who is wonderfully passionate about the quality of his spirit, it is time to stretch our legs. It has become pitch black outside so we have a quick tour of their blending house with 5 huge wooden vats, and their 5 different chais (cellars) each with a different level of humidity and temperature, and in the darkest, dankest cellar is their paradis with very old Armagnacs dating back to 1908, 1900, 1888 and even 1848, although sadly the very oldest brandy is no longer drinkable on its own.
We were honoured to be able to sample their collection so you will have to visit us on the 20th January to have your own tasting and meet Pierre, but all I’ll say now is that sipping the Samalens vintage Armagnac from 1900 is now one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and if I find myself with a spare thousand pounds in my pocket, of all the spirits in the world, this is the bottle I would choose to buy.
But for now, I’m happy to be importing the best VSOP Armagnac on the market. So what happened to the second leg of our journey and the promised Ars and Gouze? You’ll have to wait for the next blog on our visit to Cognac!
Tags: Armagnac, Samalens, spirits, Travel
Sounds awesome! Can’t wait see this new range on show on the 20th.