L'amour fût

In order that Armagnac ages in the most ideal conditions, the barrels are designed to pass on the best of what they can offer to the eau-de-vie.  This is when the savoir-faire of the cooper is truly revealed.

Without oak barrels, there would be no Armagnac ! This inevitable statement demonstrates the enormous responsibility of the cooper who cuts and shapes the wood so that its relationship with the eau-de-vie yields the best aromatic potential.

Using his worn iron tools with smooth handles after years of use, the cooper sculpts the wood according to traditional methods inherited from the Celts.  He shortens, joins and shapes the shooks of wood to transform them into staves that will make up the body of the barrel.  The cooper thins and hollows the staves for more flexibility during the bending, a process that comprises of encircling the wood with iron rings.

He needs the rings to curve the spine of the staves, and for this process, fire is his tool.  The gradual heating forces the dampened wood to bend, bringing the two ends closer.  Burning a thin layer of the inside the staves enhances the aromatic components of the wood and encourages fine cracks where the armagnac can seep and draw the essence from the wood.

Preserving the chemistry  

As with the drying beforehand, the heating increases the aromatic potential of the wood as, depending on the intensity of the burning, different fragrant essences will appear (toasted almonds, fresh hay, lemongrass, coconut, vanilla, smokiness, pepper).  The cellar master is complicit at this stage, as the intensity of the heating will influence the future expression of aromas.

The ends that close the barrel are made up of wooden dowelled staves jointed with strips of bulrush in between. To make sure that the chemistry that brings about the exchanges between the wood and the liquid is preserved, the cooper tests the water-tightness of the barrel with boiling water.

As with armagnacs, no one barrel is the same, making each one a unique piece of work.