It's a sublimely opulent Cognac with intense rancio notes (smoky/nutty characters) that as Albert Tesseron says, "you never find in Cognacs less than two generations old". More viscous and dense in the mouth than the Légende, it's still remarkably sophisticated and (indescribably) complex, with prodigious length on the finish. Each sip fills the mouth with perfume. Sheer indulgence.

It is soft on palate, having rich aromas, such as dried fruits, brown sugar and maple syrup that came from the casks, along with a slight bitterness, coconut and chocolate flavours in harmony.

An explosion of crackling peat sets off millions of flavour explosions: peat effervesces with tangy lemon and lime juice, black pepper pops with sizzling cinnamon-spiced toffee. Then comes a wave of brine infused with smooth buttermilk, ripe bananas and currants. Smoke gradually wells up on the palate bringing a mouthful of warm creamy cappuccino and toasted marshmallows. As the taste lengthens and deepens, dry espresso, liquorice root and tarry smoke develop coating the palate with chewy peat oils

Outside of the core range, there’s always something interesting to taste when you visit Chandon de Briailles—be it François de Nicolay’s négoce sans soufre wines, or something like Christian Knott’s skin-fermented La Vie est Belle. Even so, we were a little surprised to be presented with this Burgundian ‘Port’. This is drawn from late picked fruit in the very warm 2013’s harvest—mainly Savigny Lavières—where the fruit was picked extremely late (the end of October), crushed by foot, fermented and then fortified on skins (to 18.5%) using the Domaine’s own Fine de Bourgogne. The wine was then aged for five years in both topped and un-topped barrels before blending and bottling, with no SO2, in 2018. Pousse au Crime means to incite a crime, and this might certainly do that (by encouraging others to have a go at this wine style) as it’s absolutely delicious. The nose is packed with ripe plum, prune, coffee grinds and subtle, varnished oak leading to a silky, luscious, creamy, layered palate with similar notes—but mostly delicious characters of crushed raisins, milk chocolate and a long, warm and spicy close. Like a really, really fine Banyuls. Best served at cellar temperature with coffee and chocolate, but could also work with cheese and richer desserts (or, for the adventurous, a cleverly matched savoury course with the right sauce).