By Will Lowe
In Armagnac, the soil, climate, distillation and ageing techniques are completely different to those used in Cognac, and the resulting spirit is unique. The AOC Armagnac region sits in the South West of France within the Gascony region, close to the Atlantic Ocean and at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains. There are three sub-areas (the Bas-Armagnac, Ténarèze and the Haut-Armagnac areas) within the …
by Will Lowe, http://www.bibendum-spirits.co.uk/
Our second distillery of the day, Samalens, was an absolute delight. We were greeted by Pierre, the great-grandson of John Samalens who founded the distillery in 1882. Located in the heart of Bas Armagnac, the landscape was notably different from Tenareze – not least by the surprising abundance of sunflower …
by Will Lowe, http://www.bibendum-spirits.co.uk/
Our long awaited tour started with a rather medicore breakfast at Gatwick airport. Our stomachs could not possibly have imagined the gastronomic delights which were awaiting us the on the other side of the channel.
Two representatives from Bibendum Spirits, one from Bibendum Wine, and a further four from Hotel du …
By Will Lowe, http://willlowe.blogspot.com/
The Samalens Singles 12
It’s been a while since my last blog, due, in part, to the number of fantastic events I’ve been lucky enough to attend of late.
Not least of which was the 700th anniversary of Armagnac. Hosted in the luxurious surroundings of the Connaught Hotel, those of us able to evade the army of Mercedes …
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’ …
