In the raw

When the wine merchant offers his customer a bottle of Armagnac, or when at the end of a meal, the waiter brings it as a digestive, they notice that the abv (alcohol degree) marked on the bottle label is generally at 40°.  However, when it comes out of the alambic, the eau-de-vie is often at around 60°.  So where do those extra degrees of alcohol go?

Distillation is a long and complex process during which the wine is transformed into alcohol.  This transformation of the wine takes place in an alambic.  Gradually, drop by drop, it is changed into an eau-de-vie that is concentrated in alcohol.  So concentrated that the alcohol degrees can vary and according to the AOC rules, this must be between 52° and 72°.

This high strength is not what we usually find on bottles in the shops that are normally at around 40°abv. So where have the 12 to 32 missing degrees disappeared to?

A part of the alcohol slowly evaporates – by about 0.5° per year from the barrels where the eau-de-vie taken straight from the alambic ages and this is known as the “angel’s share”[1]. Then, little by little, the eau-de-vie will be diluted by adding what is called “petites eaux” (little waters) – a blend of distilled water and Armagnac, and this will gradually reduce the alcohol volume to 40°.

Cask strength Armagnac is an Armagnac that has been deliberately left at its natural degree of alcohol.  For the curious and the connoisseur of strong sensations, it is possible to taste a spirit in its ‘raw state’ : an explosion of perfumes, a real tour de force that demonstrates the strength and is the closest you can get to the pure and earthy character of Armagnac.

Not a new marketing gimmick, cask strength Armagnac has always been in existence though may sometimes be mentioned as « degré naturel de vieillissement » (natural degrees of ageing) on the label.