Armagnac Castarède, XO 20 year-old Bas Armagnac, NV 70cl

As always, Castarède exceeds legal requirements: this time by a country mile. XO Armagnac has to be aged 10 years minimum - Castarède's is 20 years old. With a glorious, coppery topaz appearance, its intense, vibrant nose shows bags of character: raisins, marrons glacés, cigar box, sandalwood and prune. The full-bodied, harmonious palate shows notes of rancio (a quality achieved through very long barrel maturation), magnificent complexity and length. A fine, sipping Armagnac, that is up there with the world's foremost brandies.