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Domaine de Charron 1987 46,3%

Nose: Heavy on the nuts: toasted chestnuts & hazelnuts. Acacia. Anise and fresh whole nutmeg. Redvines, red velvet cake. dr pepper, guajillo peppers. Disaronno, which Ryan taught me, is an amaretto liqueur made from almonds or peach pits.

Palate: Tobacco, dried peppers/ground chili pepper, dark chocolate, espresso grounds… hell, that is basically a mole recipe. And even the chicken to pair it with. But gentle and mercurial. Rolls across the palate fluttering from one part of the tongue to another. I was forced to drink prune juice every day as an older child. Apparently you should not eat fruit rollups with the plastic. Go figure, it’ll wreck havoc on your digestive tract. The long finish is strongly herbal.

Rating: 5 / 10 – Whoa. I’m blown away by the versatility of this spirit. My first Charron(s) are not at all what I expected. The DNA is fascinating. I’ll definitely look for more and see if there is a bottle with a less intense herbal side.