Grapediggaz Cognac VSOP
Origin: France/Germany (GrapeDiggaz) | 46,3% | Price: ca. 45€
Wu Dram Clan and in particular Sebastian Jaeger of the same, as well as Kirsch Import on the other hand, have been working together for a while now to dig up some special cognac and armagnac treasures. After numerous single cask beauties bottled at barrel strength & co. we now also get a new "standard range" in addition to those, VSOP and XO for now, both at 46.3% and in thsi article I want to present you the VSOP in particular.
The cognacs of the two bottlings come from the cellars of Vallein Tercinier, perhaps the biggest profiteer so far of the small, new brandy hype that goes around especially in German lands. But not only here, also the famous Serge of whiskyfun.com has a special place for VT in his heart and his brandy reviews of the last 2-3 years as perhaps the house, that matches his taste the most and relentlessly delivers best qualities.
The two here are bottled in small batches of 500l, being 100% made from Ugni Blanc, also known as Trebbiano & Saint-Émilion, interestingly over 90% of the wines made from the variety find their way into the cognac production. Another figure: Ugni Blanc in turn accounts for over 98% of cognac vineyards. The grape variety has extremely high aging potential as a brandy and has mostly delicate, floral flavors (to which, of course, a lot is added with ageing).
Below you will find as always the notes, but what would be my conclusion? I like the VSOP for the price range a lot, the idea was here obviously to offer something new in the cognac market concerning the mostly quite weak 40% VSOP bottlings for the mainstream. Perhaps also something that is suitable for mixing and made for it from the beginning, with a little more body, which would be why it found its way to us here on LiquidThoughts. This plan and idea definitely succeeded. It got light fruits, but also has nice contrasts to it with dough and young oak, works very well in many cognac drinks, especially to address the more modern flavor palette of the more advanced cocktail drinkers. Many usual cognac cocktail classics often come across as too delicate and sweet according to old recipe ratios. But these times are now over...
A nice example to position the GrapeDiggaz appropriately in the center of the drink would be the old Japanese Cocktail, which I have mixed especially for this bottling.
Nose:
Young pears, grapes, subtle, sweet and fresh yeast dough, green apple, a touch of anise, fresh heather honey, sweet grasses, later also walnut and lighter nuts, such as pecan, and young, freshly chopped oak
Taste:
Fresh apple pie, light grapes, fine & delicate ginger, anise, young pears, mirabelles and vanilla, sweet grasses, some malt and yeast dough, a hint of star fruit and unripe papaya
Finish:
Some more floral notes find their way into the finish, pear, green apple, camphor, grapes and green notes (ivy, mint, etc.)
The bottle was provided by Kirsch Import, thanks!
