Laberdolive 1995 Vintage Bas Armagnac Domaine de Jaurrey 700ml

The CellarTracker community has given the Laberdolive 1995 Domaine de Jaurrey a CT 95.5 average across four reviews — the highest community score of any vintage in the current Blackwell's Laberdolive accessible range. Four different people, tasting from different bottles, at different times, have each found something beautiful enough to report. One finished the bottle and added a small sad face. One called it "the most unique Armagnac I've ever had — and one of the best — the best of the best if you're into very fine brandy." One found "spiced pomegranate, golden raisin, pumpkin pie filling, and subtle rose water." One found "butterscotch, linen, and subtle orange rind."

VertdeVin's professional note adds the formal vocabulary: "The nose is elegant, powerful and a bit warm. Candied orange, tangerine and slight notes of lemon zest associated with hints of rancio and flowers. The palate is elegant, powerful, fat, gourmand and beautifully defined." D&M Wines found "date and persimmon notes melded seamlessly, light bitter orange, toasted coconut, grilled peach and brown spices — forest floor and wood spice on the palate, smooth texture bringing figs on the finish." And the Bozzy.org reviewer who had been "simply blown away" by the 1979 at a Toulouse spirits shop and then spent years looking for an affordable Laberdolive finally settled on the 1995 — and found raisin cookies, cinnamon and nutmeg, honey and cloves, quince paste and candied figs. "This vintage tasted like it was at the border of being too sweet and got bottled at a perfect time."

31 years old. Sables fauves. Property Gascon oak. The benchmark estate. The most loved vintage in the accessible Blackwell's Laberdolive range by the people who have actually tasted it. The 1995, at its perfect time.

Origins & Craftsmanship

The Laberdolive family has been producing Bas-Armagnac at the Domaine de Jaurrey since 1893 — seven consecutive generations on the same sables fauves golden tawny sandy soils of the Douze Valley at Labastide d'Armagnac, between the Landes and the Gers departments in the heart of the Bas-Armagnac. Four grape varieties — Baco, Colombard, Ugni Blanc, and Folle Blanche — are distilled separately in the traditional alambic armagnacais continuous column still at low proof. They then age in black Gascon oak barrels fabricated from trees grown on the property itself. No additives. No coloring. No intervention.

The 1995 Gascony growing season produced the conditions that the 1995's confirmed tasting notes across four reviewers consistently describe in their own specific language: warmth, sweetness, candied fruit, and a generous fruit expression that the Bozzy.org reviewer found "at the border of being too sweet — bottled at a perfect time." The 100% Baco component confirmed in some lot descriptions — Baco 22A being the most richly fruited and most generously aromatic of the Laberdolive estate's four varieties — contributes the specific candied fruit, apricot, and fig quality that multiple reviewers independently identified as the 1995's most immediately compelling aromatic quality. The estate's grand cru Bas-Armagnac designation confirms its placement at the highest quality tier. Multiple bottling lots — a 2017 lot at 44% and a 2021 lot at 46% — reflect the Laberdolive family's practice of drawing from the same original distillate across years as demand requires, with each bottling reflecting the specific ABV at the time of bottling. Please verify the bottling year on your specific bottle.

Critics Reviews

Wine-Searcher Critic Aggregate — 93/100

CellarTracker Community — CT 95.5 average (4 reviews — highest of any accessible Laberdolive vintage in Blackwell's current range)

CellarTracker review 1: "Deep amber color. Spiced pomegranate, golden raisin, pumpkin pie filling, and subtle rose water on the beautiful nose."

CellarTracker review 2: "Apricot, orange blossom, and honey on the beautiful nose. Finished the bottle tonight."

CellarTracker review 3: "Lots of vanilla, apricot, and maple syrup on the nose. A beautifully aged Armagnac."

CellarTracker review 4: "Butterscotch, linen, and subtle orange rind on the beautiful nose. This is the most unique Armagnac I've ever had — and one of the best. The best of the best if you're into very fine brandy."

VertdeVin — professional tasting note: "The nose is elegant, powerful and a bit warm. It reveals small notes of candied orange, tangerine and slight notes of lemon zest associated with hints of rancio and flowers. The palate is elegant, powerful, fat, gourmand and beautifully defined."

D&M Wines (July 2021 bottling, 46% ABV): "Aromas of toasted coconut, grilled peach and brown spices. The palate brings the more traditional forest floor and wood spice, but a smooth texture bringing figs on the finish. Lovely — date and persimmon notes melded seamlessly, picking up light bitter orange."

Bozzy.org (after being blown away by the 1979, sought the 1995 as an accessible Laberdolive): "Nose: Raisin cookies, cinnamon and nutmeg. Time calms it down nicely — the soothing taste of honey and cloves. Quince paste and candied figs. Palate: Sweet rather than spicy. Finish: Medium long. This vintage tasted like it was at the border of being too sweet and got bottled at a perfect time. A very good alternative to sherry cask finished whiskies. I very much enjoyed it."

Idealwine auction house: "Amber in colour with hints of orange — complex aromas of candied fruit and gentle spices — balanced, dense, aromatic persistence is striking."

Tasting Profile

Nose Deep amber with warm orange and copper highlights — 31 years of property Gascon oak producing the luminous, deeply inviting color that the CellarTracker community describes as "beautiful" across four independent reviews. The nose is the 1995's most richly praised and most specifically documented quality — the combination of reviewers' independent notes painting a composite picture of extraordinary aromatic generosity: spiced pomegranate adds the most unexpected and most specifically memorable note — warm, slightly tart, vinous, and entirely specific to this vintage's 1995 character. Golden raisin adds concentrated dried fruit sweetness. Pumpkin pie filling adds the most surprising aromatic dimension — spiced, slightly caramelized, autumnal and warm. Subtle rose water adds the most delicate and most specifically floral quality — barely there, entirely beautiful. Candied orange, tangerine, and lemon zest add citrus brightness — VertdeVin's professional note capturing the Laberdolive house character's citrus dimension with precision. Orange blossom and apricot add summer fruit warmth alongside maple syrup and vanilla. Butterscotch and linen add a secondary richness alongside toasted coconut and grilled peach from D&M's note. Raisin cookies, cinnamon, and nutmeg add the spiced confectionary warmth that Bozzy.org found most specifically Armagnac in character. Hints of rancio and flowers complete the aromatic picture — the house fingerprint confirmed and the vintage's specific generosity fully expressed.

Palate Elegant, powerful, fat, gourmand, and beautifully defined — VertdeVin's five-adjective professional palate characterization requiring every word to accurately describe a palate of unusual completeness. Sweet rather than spicy at entry — the Bozzy.org reviewer's most important and most practical characterization — with caramel and honey arriving first in the coating, generous combination that Laberdolive's property-oak maturation produces most completely at 30-plus years. Honey and cloves emerge with air — the Bozzy.org reviewer's most memorable pairing of sweetness and warm spice. Quince paste and candied figs add the specific confectionary fruit richness that the 1995's abundant growing season deposited in the grapes and that the property-oak has developed across three decades into something genuinely extraordinary. Dates and persimmon add the darker, denser dried fruit dimension. Forest floor and wood spice add the earthy, structural quality that prevents the sweetness from becoming simply indulgent. A smooth texture carries figs on the finish. The fat, gourmand quality that VertdeVin identifies is the 1995's most specifically appealing quality for anyone who loves great aged brandy: this is a Bas-Armagnac that gives itself generously without requiring effort or patience from the drinker.

Finish Medium-long, sweet, and spiced. Cinnamon carries the close most persistently alongside honey and a final warmth of wood and candied fruit. The "border of being too sweet" that Bozzy.org identified is actually the 1995's most commercially valuable quality: it is the most immediately welcoming and most broadly accessible finish in the current Blackwell's Laberdolive range, the close that opens every subsequent bottle of the range rather than closing with satisfied finality. Rancio threads through at the very end — barely there, entirely confirming — before the whole experience resolves into a warm, gently spiced, caramel-and-fig conclusion that the four CT reviewers collectively describe with four variations of the word beautiful.

Quick Overview

Serving & Occasion

Neat in a tulip-shaped brandy glass at room temperature — allow at least 10 minutes of air before the first approach, as Bozzy.org specifically noted that "time calms it down nicely — almost the same effect like adding a few drops of water to whisky." The 1995's sweet, generous, and immediately welcoming character makes it the most natural first Laberdolive for anyone new to the estate — more accessible and more immediately rewarding than the older vintages' more demanding depth, while confirming the estate's quality beyond any doubt. A very good alternative to sherry cask finished whiskies, specifically. Outstanding alongside dried fruit and nut preparations, apple tart, quince paste and aged cheese, cinnamon-spiced desserts, and any occasion where the most generous and most broadly beloved bottle in the current Laberdolive range deserves to be opened.