Henri Geffard Grande Champagne VSOP (10 year old) 40%
Tasted: Sept 2011
A dense, rich and oily nose opening with some delightful liquid orange and sweet, sun dried raisins/ sultana’s. Very deep and polished with a slight perfume and a developing earthy nuance.
The palate is quite earthy and a touch whisky-like with the toasty oak up first followed by stealthily moving dried fruit and a beautiful maturing honey note. Intense and slightly floral on the middle. Good length with a delightfully sweet spice finish.
Henri Geffard Grande Champagne Vieille Reserve (20 year old) 40%
Tasted: Sept 2011
A simply stunning nose of liquid orange fruit, liberally sprinkled with demerara sugar and beautifully mature honey. The oak is very reminiscent of an old Glen Grant with that almost sawdusty character. The honey is absolutely luscious and the spices are to die for. Wonderfully balanced with some perfumed top notes.
Deep and dense on the palate but with a beautiful lightness of touch. Quite elegant with a subtly spiced, mature honeyed depth. The intensely bitter oak hits the middle along with the mouth-watering alcohol, leaving a palate cleansing finish. Personally it could have done with more sweetness to balance that bitterness. Maybe I’m just being a bit picky, but the palate doesn’t live up to the nose.
Henri Geffard Grande Champagne Tres Vieux (35 year old) 40%
Tasted: Sept 2011
The nose is a touch more reserved than the Vieille Reserve, showing more old oak character – coffee and dark chocolate, although that isn’t the dominant theme. Edgy dried fruit mingles with hints of beeswax and old floor polish and although the spirit is older than the Vieille Reserve it shows more verve. Wonderfully balanced and complex with hints of macerated plums and prune, all set against a lovely backdrop of mature, subtle honey and oak.
The palate is very much like the nose, with plenty of verve and edginess. A phenomenal depth of liquorice infused honey coats the dried prune, raisin and grape and like the Vieille reserve the bitter, peppery oak hits the mid palate like a speeding train, but this time there is just about enough sweetness to balance. Seriously intense, long and evolving, now a slight violety note appears along with an animally note which puts me in mind of an old Mourvedre. Wow!!!
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 