Chateau de Millet Vintage Armagnac 1982
Chateau de Millet Vintage Armagnac 1982 is a 42% ABV, 750mL single-vintage Bas-Armagnac from the Dèche family estate outside Eauze in the Gers, Gascony — distilled in 1982 from estate-grown grapes and aged in 400-litre local oak barrels for over four decades before bottling, sealed in wax. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.
Château de Millet has been run by the Dèche family for five generations — today Francis and Lydie Dèche, joined by their daughter Laurence in 1999 — farming 220 acres of clay-limestone and tawny-sand (sables fauves) soils, with about 25 acres devoted to Armagnac. Most of each vintage is blended into the house VS, VSOP and XO, but select casks are held back as single-cask vintages: the brandy stays in barrel until the bottling date shown on the label, so a 1982 bottled after more than 40 years in oak is a genuine time capsule of that harvest.
Tasting profile: deep and layered — dried figs, prunes and dates with toasted oak, vanilla and caramelised nuts, leather, tobacco and dark chocolate lifted by orange zest; a silky palate of burnt sugar, baking spices, honeyed fruit and roasted coffee; a long, warming finish of toffee, leather and oak spice. Browse the Chateau de Millet brand collection, more Armagnac, and the full spirits collection at Del Mesa Liquor.
Serving note: pour neat in a tulip glass after dinner and give it time in the glass — a spirit this old keeps opening for an hour or more.
What makes a vintage Armagnac different? It comes from a single harvest year and a single cask tradition rather than a blend of ages: the brandy remains in oak until bottling, and the label carries the vintage and bottling dates.
How long was the 1982 aged? Over four decades in 400-litre local oak barrels — the estate's 2025 list gives the 1982 as 43 years of age.
What does it taste like? Dried figs, prunes and dates, toasted oak, vanilla and caramelised nuts, with leather, tobacco, dark chocolate and a long toffee-and-spice finish.
What is the ABV and size? 42% ABV, 750mL.