There is a lot to unpack here.

In the world of whisky they often talk about slow maturation and state things like ‘patiently matured’ on labels. It often doesn’t mean much, but if there is anything to go by, this one is slowly matured. If you think about the simple fact that the alcohol content is still 60%, ever after 78 years (!), that is quite miraculous.

Mauxion was able to get this far along with such a high ABV by intentionally storing in an incredibly humid cellar and partially burying the cask so that interaction with the air around it was minimal. It change quite a few maturation parameters compared to the more traditional ways of doing that.

On top of that (quite literally) the spirit was made by using the ‘Remy’ method. This means that the brandy is distilled with a segment of natural wine. By heating the spirit the ‘raw’ parts of the natural wine (yeasty and cloudy parts) float to the top and give the spirit more complexity.

And then there’s the more cultural or psychological factor that this was distilled in the year that the Second World War was still happening. Much like the 1941/1943 Vallein Tercinier from a couple of years ago, it’s quite special to have a French spirit bottled by some dudes in Germany. Europe has come a long way.

Sniff:
Very timid and clean for both the age and the alcohol. A slight minty note, but after a few minutes (not seconds!) it turns to blood orange and copper. Red cinnamon and Meranti hardwood.

Sip:
Again, a timid arrival, but the high ABV makes itself known after about 20 seconds. Lots of oak and sweeter but crisp citrus.

Swallow:
A rather hot and teary finish that leaves a dry and hardwood sawdust flavor. Long, but gentle after a while. Back to the blood oranges, wood pulp and some copper.

This is quite something. The combination of this being ridiculously old, and very high in alcohol is interesting. The alcohol has been mellowed over the long decades of maturation, but there still simply is a massive amount of it. So there’s quite some bite, but it’s not extremely hot on the arrival.

The finish starts with a lot of heat, but mellows soon into a lovely batch of flavors. The tropical blood orange notes are great. It combines well with the notes of copper.

In the end I didn’t have to guts to add a drop of water, because I was afraid (I was petrified) that it wouldn’t swim well.

90/100