On Wednesday I had a review of the first of two casks of very old cognac bottled by Pasquet for the Facebook group, Serious Brandy. I liked that one a lot. Here now is the second cask. The word on the street is that it is fruitier than Cask 1, which is music to my ears. Let’s see how it goes.

Pasquet Lot 62, Cask 2 for Serious Brandy (40.3%; Petite-Champagne; from my own bottle)

Nose: Big sticky fruit notes from the get-go with apricot, marmalade, fig jam; some honey in there too along with butterscotch and pastry crust. Certainly not as much oak here as in the sibling cask. Water seems to push the fruit back and pulls out more of the oak-pine complex that develops on the palate.

Palate: The fruit is brighter here with fried plantains joining the party. There’s some toasted oak running through it. The texture is richer as well. With more time the oak expands, creating more of a frame for the fruit which takes on more tropical accents (tart-sweet mango, passionfruit). With more time the oak begins to take a piney turn. Okay, let’s see what water does…It gives the fruit more depth, thickens the texture and integrates the wood better (now back solidly in toasted oak territory).

Finish: Medium-long. The fruit yields to the oak here. Much longer with water and the fruit is the top note now

Comments: Not hard to tell the family resemblance between this and Cask 1. The oak in that cask probably had a bit more life in it than this one. Those who know my sensitivity to oak might expect me to like this one more but frankly, while i like the nose on this one better, I prefer the palate and finish of the other (I did like the palate and finish here better with some water). And so—right now, at least—it’s a tie. I look forward to seeing how both bottles develop with more time open. I’ll report in a couple of weeks.

Rating: 90 points.