the bottle

Key facts

Vintage1981
ABV40.0 % vol.
Capacity70 cl
AppellationAOC Armagnac
RegionSouthwest
this bottle

clés des ducs Armagnac 1981

  • Ageing Vintage 1981, single harvest year, unblended
  • Cask Oak casks, light oak influence

In September 1981, the first TGV high-speed train connected Paris to Lyon. That same year, in Gascony, Clés des Ducs distilled at Panjas the harvest that fills this bottle. The eau-de-vie has aged alone in oak casks since the vintage, a fitting bottle for couples who married in 1981. The cellar master has shaped it, as with all the house's vintages, towards a long and mellow profile, where the oak remains light. Exception bottle, 70 cl, 40% vol., presented in a cardboard gift box.

the vintage

The year 1981

Vintage grand

1981 will be remembered as the year François Mitterrand was elected President of the Republic, while across the Atlantic the music channel MTV was born. In Gascony, the vines yielded grapes of fine ripeness. These eaux-de-vie, aged for nearly half a century in Gascon oak casks, have reached their full expression, with notes of candied prunes, dark chocolate and gentle spices.

the house

Clés des Ducs

  • Founded in 1774
  • Location Panjas, Gers
  • Appellation Armagnac (Bas-Armagnac and Ténarèze depending on the expression)
  • Grape varieties Traditional Gascon grape varieties, principally Ugni Blanc, along with Baco, Folle Blanche and Colombard
  • Distillation Continuous distillation at low temperature in a copper Armagnac still

The story of Clés des Ducs begins in 1774 in Panjas, in the Gers, with Paul Baylac, lord of the village, who distilled its first eaux-de-vie. Since 2008, the house has been owned by the Groupe Armanoir, which upholds a craft built on traditional Gascon grape varieties, with Ugni Blanc at the fore, alongside Baco, Folle Blanche …

All Clés des Ducs Armagnacs →

The record

Cellar notes

Appellation
AOC Armagnac
Size
70 cl
Department
Gers
Vintage
1981
Region
Southwest
ALCOHOL RATE
40.0 °
Type
Armagnac
Reference
CLESDDUCS1981

Armagnac specialist

A cellar devoted to the brandies of Gascony.

The year on the label

Authentic vintages, from 1888 to 2017.

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