A whole lot of years ago (20? 25?) I was involved in a wine trade where I had a bottle a friend wanted really badly and he had some things that struck me as unusual and before long, I'd added a couple of curiosities to the collection. And that's precisely the problem - just when is the right time to open a 146 year-old bottle of brandy? Or is it a 146 year-old bottle of brandy?
This bottle asks more questions than it answers.....Larios has been around forever in Jerez, Spain, and the company these days is part of the Pernod Ricard family. I found a reference to "Larios 1866" that's presently available for 50 Euros (one might surmise that any hopes I harbored about selling this bottle for enough money to retire on have been dashed). Says the sales entreaty: "Possibly the best brandy in Spain is saturated with Malaga wine and age of at least 12 years in oak barrels. "1866" has a round and smooth flavor, reminiscent of vanilla, wood and fruit." That makes it sound as if it's all about the oak aging (American oak, apparently) but not much about the flavor of the brandy itself. The link goes on to recommend it with cigars and appears to dis anyone deigning to request "Cardinel Mendoza" drinkers if they aren't suave enough to prefer Larios.
On the other hand, this bottle of Larios 1866 lacks the garish packaging of the current release ("austere bottle and label almost vulgar" is how the website puts it) so maybe this bottle of Larios 1866 was the inspiration for the contents contained in the more recent bottlings.
The bottle certainly looks like it could be 146 years old...
And it doesn't seem as if it's the sort of bottle anyone would bother counterfeiting (particularly in a 375ml size). The ullage seems about right for something this old, and the bottle appears to have an appropriate amount of earnestly-won cellar grunge caked to it.
I love a mystery (at least up to a certain point). If anyone who happens to be reading this could shed a little light on just what it is that I have, I'd be most appreciative.
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