Valentin Audrier, horsdage.fr, 20/10/2021:
A 50yo G.C celebrating Belgian national day (beautiful label by the way). François Voyer is a well-known Grande Champagne house, particularly for its vineyard commitment (CEC, HVE) and its very old G.C eaux-de-vie. Let’s see if this Malternative Belgium La Fête makes me sing La Brabançonne.
Colour: Amber, gold lights. Regular heavy tears
Nose: Great exotic fruits rancio at first. Roasted pineapple, mango juice. Beautiful freshness in the background on menthol and eucalyptus, maybe on sandalwood too. Well built G.C without any doubt. Still on impressive freshness, a tad of mint leaves, tarragon and sandalwood. Mango again and a full spoon of flambéed bananas. Stop it! Dashes of spice in the background with a bit of air, something between ras al anout and caraway.
Palate: Very sweet texture with acidulous tones, the kind of acidulous sides you also find in some old P.C (Corbeille de Fruits, Cognac de Pierre, Grosperrin P.C 1974). Mind-blowing mix of watermelon juice and banana cake. That’s a really delicious palate. Great mouth length by the way. Toasted notes on burnt wood and freshly ground coffee. A tad of licorice too. Still the delicious exotic concerto in Mango Major previously perceived.
Last Notes: Camphory and very fresh notes with more air. Mint leaves, freshly cut basil, Sichuan pepper and a bit of balsamic tones too. Rosemary and eucalyptus emphasize this impression of freshness. Nice umami shades on black tea, soy sauce and a little bit of white mushrooms scents. What about the palate? Exotic fruits are back again. Pineapple juice, mango juice. Strong rancio here for sure, something between cedar wood and overripe melon. Triple bang. Crazy G.C, far from the monolithic G.C style (Jean Fillioux N°1 for exemple) which is not less interesting by the way. Generous mouth length on papaya and licorice. Gentle au-revoir on dates paste and fig marmalade.
No compromises with this Malternative Belgium « La Fête » . Gigantic fresh & fruity G.C monster dressed in a rancio tuxedo. Fully Hors d’Age approved.
My very subjective note: 91+/100

Serge Valentin, whiskyfun.com, 10/10/2021:
I may have said before that our Belgian friends are very good at selecting old French brandies, not just at playing futbol against us (grin). Colour: deep gold. Nose: ueber-easy fruit-salad-y old cognac, absolutely stunning with this incredible freshness, just shock-full of fresh apples, peaches, pears, bananas, papayas and… a family pack of liquorice allsorts. A little vetiver, ylang-ylang, jasmine… It is impressively fruity and fresh and I cannot not wonder if it didn't stem from an old demi-john rather than from a cask. Mouth: same fruity extravaganza, more tropical this time, with pink grapefruits, litchis for sure, woodruff, Benedictine and a little green wood around the periphery. Finish: medium, with a little more honey and a little more eucalyptus from the oak. Soft pine liqueur and thyme tea. Comments: so, demi-john or cask? The jury's still out but the score is very high again.
SGP:561 - 90 points.

Ruben Luyten, www.whiskynotes.be, 24/09/2021:
Nose: more delicate and refined. More on floral notes and beeswax, with the same juicy fruits underneath. Peonies, apricots, bananas and orange oils. Maybe rambutan. Orange blossom, mint leaves and verbena as well. Pure seduction.
Mouth: oh yes! So much finesse here. It’s all on bergamots, verbena, guava, pineapple and passion fruit. More acidity and brightness, with a very oily texture and none of the robust spices and wood. I love this. The fruity refinement evolves towards herbal tea and more of these blossomy notes. Just a hint of cedar wood in the end, but overall hardly any wood.
Finish: long and light as a feather. Bright fruits, more berries now, even a tiny hint of cassis and lychee?
Absolutely delicious. A huge fruitiness and the light-footed elegance of a ballerina. Younger and less expensive (€ 240), this one gets my vote! Pieter will reserve a few bottles for future tastings, but unfortunately only the most loyal Malternative buyers will be able to get a bottle in order to complete their collection.
Score: 91/100