Oade — “Serendipity” Domaine du Carpoulat 39 Year Armagnac (1985 Vintage) Review

About Oade

“This is our journey. And we’re honored to share it with you—
one barrel at a time.” – Oade

OADE was founded in 2023 by Dan Hakker after a 20-year career in tech and more than a decade spent visiting distilleries around the world. A first encounter with Armagnac in 2018 sparked a deep fascination with the spirit’s complexity, individuality, and centuries-old traditions — ultimately leading Dan and his wife Robyn to Gascony, where that curiosity became a mission.

OADE works directly with small, family-run producers, selecting rare casks at the source during regular trips to France. Every release is single-barrel, cask strength, and bottled with no additives—exactly as tasted in the cellar. Each bottling is chosen for its quality, uniqueness, and sense of place, celebrating Armagnac as a living time capsule shaped by people, land, and time.

What I love most about OADE is how clearly it reflects the community behind the spirits industry. It’s a reminder that the best bottles are rarely about transactions—they’re about trust, time, and relationships.

Dan’s ability to build genuine connections with producers has made it possible to bring Armagnacs that would otherwise never be seen here into the state, and to do so at a remarkably reasonable price point. That speaks volumes about both the quality of the spirit and the quality of the person behind it.

What is Armagnac?

Armagnac is a French brandy from southwest France, distilled from wine and aged in oak. While Armagnac can legally be made from ten regional grape varieties, nearly 99% comes from four: Baco, Ugni Blanc, Colombard, and Folle Blanche.

Flavor and structure are shaped by a combination of grape variety, sub-region soils, and vintage, but the final character is equally defined by distillation quality, oak selection, aging conditions, and—most importantly—time in barrel.

Traditionally distilled in column stills and produced largely by small, family-run estates, Armagnac often shows deeper fruit, earthier spice, and more individuality than other brandies, especially at long ages.

About the Producer – Domaine du Carpoulat

Domaine du Carpoulat is located in Fources, a medieval bastide village in the Ténarèze region of Gascony, known for its clay-limestone soils that give Armagnac a rich, full-bodied character. In the early 1970s, Yves Duflo, a former Caribbean banana plantation manager, purchased the estate and began producing Armagnac, carefully retaining older barrels to build a unique inventory of aged spirits.

In the mid-1990s, Jean-Jacques Bordes joined as cellar master, guiding production with decades of expertise until his retirement in 2024, when his son Florient took over. Today, the Bordes family continues to manage the estate with a deep commitment to traditional methods, preserving the distinctive Ténarèze terroir.

Our visit to Domaine du Carpoulat felt almost serendipitous, culminating in tasting a final barrel that perfectly represents the estate’s first release—rich, expressive, and deeply rooted in history.

One of my favorite noses of all time—herbal, earthy, and endlessly interesting.

The hop-driven bitterness on the finish is slightly off-putting for me, likely tied to higher acidity, but the aromatic complexity keeps pulling me back.

Value & Transparency

At just under $300, this bottle may give many whiskey drinkers pause — and that’s fair. But a quick look at the market for 39-year-old Armagnac immediately reframes the price.

Comparable releases at this age often cost the same or significantly more, frequently at half the proof. At nearly 110 proof, this Serendipity release offers a level of age, concentration, and intensity that is exceptionally rare at this price point.

More broadly, OADE Armagnac consistently bottles spirits that land at half to a quarter the cost of similarly aged offerings from major Armagnac houses.

By working directly with small producers rarely seen in the U.S., OADE creates a true win-win—expanding access for collectors while giving long-overdue visibility to exceptional, family-run estates.

Distinctiveness

This is a newer evaluation category for me, intended to assess how much a spirit stands apart from its peers—whether through an unusual age, distinctive production choices, or flavors not typically encountered within its category.

Armagnac is still relatively new territory for me, so my comparisons are limited to the other OADE samples tasted alongside this release.

Within that context, this expression stands out for its deeper sweetness on the nose and its strikingly herbal, earthy character. Notes of bell pepper, balsamic vinaigrette, and even the lingering bitterness—while slightly off-putting for my personal palate—ultimately make this one of the more distinctive and memorable pours of the group.

Buy if:

• You love deeply herbal, earthy, and complex noses.
• You enjoy Armagnac with bold black pepper, toffee, and a long, evolving finish.
• You’re intrigued by unusual flavors like bitter hops or unexpected spice.

Skip if:

• You prefer smooth, straightforward, or lightly sweet spirits.
• Bitter, slightly drying or high-acidity finishes put you off.

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