New-wave Calvados: Not just a digestif

The exceptional apple brandies of Normandy are too often typecast in a role that sees them trapped on the digestif trolley, where they certainly excel, but are overlooked in other moments.

Some modern Calvados distillers intend to change that. Produced within a defined area along France’s northern coast, according to its appellation d’origine, using specific varieties of apples and pears, and adhering to defined methods, Calvados has grand tradition behind it – but that doesn’t restrict it from going beyond the after-dinner occasion.

Expressing beautiful orchard fruit, tempered by time in oak, this is a spirit for any occasion, with untapped mixing potential.

Some contemporary producers recognise this. Environmentally conscious Avallen champions the spirit’s sustainable credentials, while Christian Drouin pushes boundaries with interesting cask finishes.

Calvados and cocktails: a perfect pairing

Organic producer Domaine de la Flaguerie encourages mixing of its versatile Calvados.

‘For too long, Calvados has been seen as a spirit for a certain generation, enjoyed in a certain way – after dinner, in a certain glass,’ says Flaguerie owner Jean-Olivier Petrich.

‘The new wave is about creating a product made to be consumed differently, pushed from its traditional context. Its move into cocktails feels completely natural once you taste them.’

Petrich sees Flaguerie’s younger, vibrant expressions served in highballs, perhaps on a sunny terrace, while those with more age are better suited to stirred-down classic cocktails.

Back to the future: Reviving the Trou Normand tradition

At Christian Drouin, in addition to its cask finishes and a new apple-based aperitif named ABC, the focus is on reviving forgotten ways of enjoying these spirits.

Among these is the Trou Normand, in which a scoop of apple sorbet is doused in Calvados and enjoyed between courses.

‘There are many delightful ways to enjoy Calvados, including a wide range of excellent cocktails,’ says third-generation owner Guillaume Drouin.

Clear thinking

Drouin has also revived a traditional Norman style, Blanche – essentially an unaged apple eau-de-vie that captures the essence of the fruit.

‘It’s often met with pleasant surprise,’ says Drouin. ‘It’s remarkably smooth, with distinctive, intense apple flavours.’

Flaguerie, too, produces a Blanche. ‘It’s leading the cocktail conversation – think premium gin or blanco tequila, but with a crisp, green-apple soul,’ says Petrich.

‘Bartenders are loving it. We’re seeing it in everything from Martinis to Margaritas.

One to try

Domaine de la Flaguerie 2 Year Old Organic Calvados, Normandy, France

£37.50-£39/70cl Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange

A lively, youthful expression from an organic orchard, with juicy red apple in abundance and some cinnamon spice, together evoking freshly baked apple pie. Ideal for long serves with a mixer, or for adding pure apple notes to a cocktail. Alcohol 40%

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Unlike blended Cognac, vintage Armagnac can express the character of one particular year – making it a natural choice for wine lovers to explore.

Why vintage Armagnac goes its own way

Spirits like order. Scotch whisky has age statements neatly stacked into a ladder, reassuring the drinker that time equals value.

Cognac’s alphabet soup of VS, VSOP and XO provides a rough guide to age progression, even when the liquid itself is the product of extensive blending. In both cases, age provides a framework for expectation.

Armagnac sits adjacent to these systems. Officially, it has its own classifications: VS (one year), VSOP (four years), XO or Hors d’Age (10). They exist, and many producers use them.

Yet when Armagnac is discussed with any seriousness, the conversation almost inevitably turns to vintages.

The reason is partly structural. Unlike Cognac (built on a handful of large houses that age and blend, rather than cultivate and harvest), Armagnac is often made in smaller volumes by growers distilling once a year from their own wines. Blending across years is possible, but less central.

How vintage Armagnac expresses individual years

Where Cognac smooths variation, Armagnac allows the character of a single harvest to endure. Here, vintage is not decorative, but declarative: the growing season is captured and preserved in spirit.

This invites a question more familiar in wine: can one vintage be better than another?

In Armagnac’s case, the answer is yes; though ‘different’ is a more useful word. Each harvest shapes the style of the eaux-de-vie that emerge from the still.

A warm season may produce a rich, broad spirit; a cooler year, something firmer, more tensile.

Maturation complicates matters further. A lighter vintage might be ready sooner and won’t need to be smothered with oak; more powerful years need time in barrel to be tamed.

What emerges isn’t a ranking, but a series of expressions, each year shaped by its own conditions and complete in itself.

In a spirits world obsessed with ladders of age, of price, of prestige, Armagnac’s attachment to vintage feels quietly resistant, showcasing postcards from the past where age isn’t a promise of quality or complexity, but a snapshot of a moment in time.

One to try

Château de Lacquy, Armagnac 2007, Bas-Armagnac, Southwest France

Where to buy it: £113/70cl, The Whisky Exchange

Château de Lacquy, Armagnac’s oldest family-owned estate (producing since at least the early 1700s), farms 22ha of vines for its Armagnac, all of which are harvested, vinified, distilled and aged by individual plot and variety.

Slow distillation in a 1939 wood-fired still has given this 2007 vintage a rich, full-bodied nose of strawberry jam and dark chocolate.

The palate has figs, poached pears and orange blossom, with a cinnamon powder finish. Alcohol 48%.

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A vermouth with a difference…

Vermouth plays a role in countless cocktails – from Martinis to Manhattans – making it a staple for your home bar. Newly arrived in the UK, Casals Mediterranean Vermouth (Alcohol 16%, £19.25-£20.95 Back to Mine, Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange) is an interesting choice for wine lovers, as it’s the only vermouth produced using the rare white grape Selma.

Casals is made in Spain by Juan Torres Master Distillers, the spirits arm of wine producer Familia Torres, which has a long-standing project to preserve ancestral Catalan varieties such as Selma. It’s used in a blend with other aromatic white grapes as the base for this Rojo vermouth, which is infused for three months with a mix of more than 20 botanicals, including rosemary, thyme, olive leaves and cinnamon.

The result is an aromatic sweet red vermouth with a nose of Mediterranean herbs and a rich, complex palate layered with red berries, dried herbs and baking spices, with a pleasing bitter finish. Try it in a Boulevadier or Negroni – with one of the gins opposite – or in a lower-alcohol long serve, simply paired with tonic.

Spirited words: ‘Candy is dandy… but liquor is quicker’ – Ogden Nash

What to drink now… Saketini

Written by Vicki Denig

Sip & Guzzle, New York

The Saketini offers a flavour-packed alternative to the classic Martini. For Steve Schneider, head bartender and bar manager at the bi-level, Japanese-style speakeasy Sip & Guzzle in New York, the drink was a perfect match for the venue. ‘I was looking for a house gin Martini riff and I really enjoy Junmai Daiginjo sake,’ he says.

Generally considered the pinnacle of sake production, Junmai Daiginjo-grade sake is known for its fruitiness and solid balance. ‘The fino Sherry gives [the cocktail] that extra dryness and depth, and the sherry vinegar gives it a little acidity.’ Schneider adds that the Castelvetrano olive adds a layer of butteriness. The drink pairs particularly well with cooked fish, sushi, sashimi and even yakitori.

Ingredients: 45 ml Gin, 30 ml Junmai Daiginjo sake, 15 ml Tio Pepe Fino Sherry, 2 dashes Sherry vinegar

Glass: Martini

Garnish: Castelvetrano olive

Method: Combine ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice, stir and strain into a Martini glass

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Christie’s next online sale of fine and rare wines and spirits will take place from 22 November to 6 December.

Among the many lots – many from the cellars of Raby Castle – is one consigned by Cognac house Martell.

Drawn from its selection of over 1,000 eaux-de-vies, the house has selected a 72 year-old Grande Champagne Cognac, itself a single eau-de-vie made from a single cru, and bottled it in a bespoke crystal decanter made by Baccarat.

The decanter itself was designed by a 16-strong Baccarat team – several of whom hold the prestigious title ‘Meilleurs Ouvriers de France’.

The motif of vine leaves and shoots featured on the decanter were hand-painted in gold and enamel. The Crystal stopper is engraved with the coat of arms of Martell and the whole is housed in a handmade wooden box, the interior of which is decorated with a marquetry of grapevines in gold.

Tim Triptree MW, Christie’s International Director of Wines & Spirits, said: ‘Christie’s Wines and Spirits department is delighted to offer this rare and exceptional Martell 72 Years Old Grande Champagne Cognac as a highlight of our online fortified wines & spirits sale.

‘As the oldest of the great Cognac houses, Maison Martell’s distinction is unparalleled. We look forward to presenting this unique bottle, meticulously crafted by the world-renowned Cristallerie Baccarat in a handmade crystal decanter, to our collectors worldwide.’

Furthermore, the successful bidder will be invited to Maison Martell for a tasting masterclass with cellar master Christophe Valtaud, a ‘gastronomic experience’ created by three-star Michelin chef Alexandre Mazzia and a one-night stay at the historic home of the Martell family, Château de Chanteloup.

Valtaud said: ‘This collaboration with Christie’s and Baccarat once again illustrates Maison Martell’s capacity to elevate Cognac to a luxury product that responds to the needs of a demanding clientele of collectors and connoisseurs.’

A unique item

The Cognac itself has spent over seven decades in Martell’s cellars, latterly in the historic Jean Martell cellar which houses the oldest and rarest spirits.

Some 30 years ago, having reached what the then-cellar masters ordained was its peak, the Cognac was transferred from barrel to glass flasks known as ‘dame-jeannes’ to preserve its character for the future.

Speaking to Decanter at the announcement of the collaboration, Valtaud confirmed that while reserves of the same spirit remained at the maison, this singular bottle was all they planned to release.

‘It’s not a limited edition, it’s unique,’ he said. ‘It’s for just one person in the world [to own].’

Asked what a Cognac that old tasted like, he added it was ‘completely different’ to any Cognac anyone would have had before.

‘It’s floral in a way that Grande Champagne normally isn’t,’ he continued. ‘It has notes of acacia, orange blossom and tobacco leaves. It truly is something unique.’

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The Cognac has been preserved in a remarkable bottle made of cut lead crystal glass, with the name of the producer and the vintage engraved into the mount.

This bottle features an accompanying green stone base with gilded letters, an engraved glass and a stopper.

They are all housed in a glass dome, which has helped the ensemble stay in mint condition over the past 328 years.

In 1696, Louis XIV was at the height of his power in France, having ended the Nine Years’ War by signing the Treaty of Turin.

King William III was still on the throne in England after seeing off an assassination attempt from Jacobite conspirators.

French and English forces were battling it out for supremacy in North America, while troops from the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire were clashing near Andros.

The Cognac industry was maturing by that point. The popular spirit can trace its roots back to the 16th century, when Dutch traders would visit the southwest of France to buy wine and other goods.

Unfortunately, the wine struggled to stay fresh on the long voyage back to the Netherlands, so French producers began double distilling wine, which led to the creation of Cognac.

Distillation techniques had improved by the end of the 17th century, and brandy from the Cognac region was recognised as superior to eaux-de-vie produced elsewhere.

This is the only known bottle from the 1600s still in existence. The producer gave it to Edmond Jaulin, one of the co-founders of the Jules Robin brand, and it eventually found its way into a private collection in France during the 1950s.

The bottle was rediscovered in 2018, and it was acquired by its current owner for an undisclosed sum. It was thought to be the oldest Cognac in existence, and that status has now been confirmed by Guinness World Records.

The Guinness World Record was previously held by a Cognac from Gautier, which was distilled in 1762, so this bottle has broken the record by 66 years.

That bottle fetched almost $150,000 at auction in 2020, by which point it was referred to as ‘the oldest Cognac vintage ever sold at auction’.

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Hermitage Cognac said its new ‘Siècle d’Or’ vintage expression spent 100 years ageing in Limousin oak barrels in the heart of Cognac‘s ‘Grande Champagne’ region.

The house said it believed its new offering to be the oldest barrel-aged Cognac so far released. Company founder David Baker described it as a ‘masterpiece of smoothness and quality’.

Just 68 bottles of the limited-edition Cognac are available, presented in hand-blown, one-litre decanters made by Cumbria Crystal.

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Baker called it a ‘priceless masterpiece of Cognac history’. It has a price tag of £24,900 per bottle and is available via the Hermitage Cognac site.

Baker added, ‘Provenance and time are the very essence of this 100-year-old Cognac, and I hope those who purchase it will indulge in one of the finest luxury spirits on the market.’

The Cognac was made from Ugni Blanc grapes grown in Lignières-Sonneville, which is in the heart of the Grande Champagne area.

Grande Champagne is the most prized of the six crus within the Cognac region, renowned for its exceptional terroir and fine-toned eaux-de-vie that benefit from long ageing.

Hermitage Siècle d’Or 100 Year Old Cognac was distilled in the Segonzac area using traditional copper Alembic Charentais stills.

Siècle d’Or is the name for France’s golden century, and the 100-year-old Cognac is said to epitomise the quality and craftsmanship of a bygone era.

‘This exceptionally long ageing period has created a wide complexity of rich flavours and aromas, common only with the finest and oldest cognacs,’ said Baker.

‘The balance and depth of flavour is a masterpiece of smoothness and quality. Flavours of cocoa, burnt toffee, mushroom, ginger, candied fruit and kumquat are all wrapped up in an intensely rich rancio found only in the rarest of Cognacs.’

Hermitage Cognac, founded by Baker in 1990, works with different top producers in the famous French region to identify rare stocks that can also be defined by age and vintage.

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In 1898, as the Cognac region struggled to recover from the devastation of phylloxera, Paul-Emile Rémy Martin was dazzled by a tasting of extra-aged eaux-de-vie. The tasting inspired him to blend a new prestige Cognac: Rémy Martin Coupe Fine Champagne.

At the time of the creation of Coupe, Rémy Martin was already a Cognac house of some pedigree. It had been established by its eponymous founder, a young wine grower named Rémy Martin, in the small Charente town of Rouillac in 1724. Now, three centuries after that event, a new Coupe is born.

‘New’, however, is a relative term. Rémy Martin 300th Anniversary Coupe, a 100% Grande Champagne Cognac blended by cellar master Baptiste Loiseau and priced at £2,200, contains – literally – liquid echoes of its predecessors.

Past creations

The process began in 1974, when then Rémy Martin cellar master André Giraud created the 250th Anniversary Coupe. This was followed by Georges Clot’s 275th Anniversary Coupe in 1999 and then Pierrette Trichet’s 290th Anniversary Coupe in 2014.

The base for each new iteration is Rémy Martin’s Réserve Perpétuelle, which is then combined with the cellar master’s own selection of eaux-de-vie to create the final Coupe blend. Less than 10% of the liquid is released – there are only 6,724 decanters of the 300th Anniversary Coupe available. The rest is put back into the Réserve Perpétuelle.

‘Each cellar master creating the Anniversary Coupe will release a small amount of this, and then will take it back to the cellar,’ explains Loiseau. ‘We are nourishing the previous Coupes with new eaux-de-vie. It’s a never-ending story and a unique blend.’

Individual expression

For Loiseau, the main task was to maintain the signature of the previous bottlings while adding something of his own personality to the new expression. ‘For me, the surprise was to go back to what had been left when Pierrette Trichet created the previous Coupe, the 290th,’ he explains.

‘That’s the basis for the 300th Anniversary Coupe, so it’s about paying tribute to what has been done previously, but also sharing my personal vision for respecting the signature of the house,’ he says.

In particular, Loiseau was determined to bring forward more of the aromas of the grapes and the wine that are the foundations of any Cognac. His aim was to inject a little more fruit and freshness into the blend.

‘What I really like in this eau-de-vie is the combination of tension and concentration,’ says Loiseau. ‘There’s a lot of structure with the lees [Rémy Martin Cognacs are always distilled on the lees]. But still I wanted to be much more rigorous and precise with the aromas of the grapes and the wine,’ he adds.

‘With such long ageing, you have candied fruits, but it is still light, with tension. It’s a perfect mix between what the lees can give, but also the aromas coming from the wine. The idea is to stay totally in the Rémy Martin style DNA – candied fruits, rancio notes – but also to bring candied orange, passion fruit, mango, and some freshness and radiance.’

‘The footprint of time’

This philosophy underpinned Loiseau’s selection of the new eaux-de-vie to be included in the blend for the 300th Anniversary Coupe. ‘I was really looking for something fruity, something very fresh,’ he says. ‘The 290th Coupe had a lot of concentration, waxy notes, figs and dates,’ he adds.

‘But I also had some eaux-de-vie that were much more with aromas of sandalwood, leather and oak – really the footprint of time. So it was based on a majority of the 290th Coupe, but there was a twist with these much fresher eaux-de-vie, plus others that were more woody and leathery,’ he concludes.

Loiseau also highlights the fascinating exercise – for those lucky enough to have the opportunity – of comparing the new release with previous Anniversary Coupes. ‘You really feel the consistency and signature of the house,’ he explains. ‘It’s like when you make a vertical tasting of a really great wine. You understand the philosophy of the house, even if the winemaker is not the same.’

Tasting notes

Rémy Martin’s 300th Anniversary Coupe (Alc 40%) offers opulence from the off: exotic spices, sandalwood, cassis and an undercurrent of beeswax and dark honey. Then the inimitable, savoury/earthy tang of rancio, with the fruit lurking in the background: dried apricot and mango, plus candied orange peel. The fruit emerges more confidently on the palate, before being subsumed by an explosively aromatic mid-palate. A kaleidoscopic finish shifts from coffee bean into cigar leaf and star anise. This Cognac is a study in power, refinement and vibrancy.

The Cognac is packaged in a clear glass carafe inspired by the bottle used for the 250th Anniversary Coupe, housed in a wooden case. The case also contains a note from Loiseau and a QR code to access exclusive digital content.

There are 6,724 bottles available globally from selected retailers and on RemyMartin.com, priced at £2,200 per 70cl carafe.

Rémy Martin is organising a number of celebrations to mark the house’s 300th anniversary in 2024, including a series of events and the reopening of the house of Rémy Martin in the centre of Cognac.

Rémy Martin 300th Anniversary Coupe: £2,200/70cl, Brunswick Fine Wines & Spirits, Master of Malt, Secret Bottle Shop, The Whisky Exchange 

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Picture Sandy Hyslop, a jovial chap in comfortable middle age, bent over to thrust his nose into an empty wooden cask. He has travelled 32km just to sniff out any sour or musty notes – and thankfully found none to worry him.

Instead it smells soft and sweet like a joiner’s workshop, with just a whiff of smoke from the char inside. Hyslop is director of blending and inventory for Chivas Brothers, so you’ll find him sniffing away like this quite regularly.

‘We have to nose every empty cask before any whiskies even go near it to make sure it’s what we’re looking for,’ he says. ‘Touch wood we haven’t had any issues, but we still assess every cask that comes in from Japan.’

So would you if you knew what each one cost.

What is mizunara?

Mizunara is also known as Japanese oak (Quercus crispula) and is native to Hokkaidō, Japan’s northernmost prefecture. It is one of the rarest and most expensive oaks in the world, and is often associated with luxury spirits. Just its name on a label can give prices a boost.

Japanese whisky distillers began making casks out of mizunara soon after World War II. At this time the country faced many shortages, including the imported casks distillers had previously relied upon.

At the same time, demand for whisky was soaring thanks to the western troops stationed there. Distillers had little choice but to start using the local oak, despite its reputation for being hard to work with.

Why is mizunara so difficult to work?

A mizunara tree can grow for 200 years before it is large enough to make into casks. Once felled, each tree will yield less timber than other species of oak; you’d get twice as much from a typical American oak for example.

In addition Japanese oaks grow crooked and their knotty wood has a high water content: mizu-nara translates to ‘water oak’. This means mizunara staves must dry for longer – at least three years. After this time they are less pliable than staves made of other oaks, and so are harder to shape.

Mizunara wood is also markedly porous, so casks made from it are apt to leak, losing more spirit each year on top of the expected loss to evaporation (the so-called angel’s share). On the plus side, this porous nature means the whisky can soak deeper into the wood and pick up more flavours.

If mizunara demands extra skill and care to turn into casks, Japan’s coopers are evidently up to the task. ‘The casks are an absolute joy to work with,’ explains Hyslop. ‘There’s lots of talk about how difficult it is to get the wood and to make the casks but I don’t see those problems. All I see are the casks that come in that are absolutely fabulous quality. We fill them and get great results.’

Why is mizunara so expensive?

There are strict laws in Japan that limit how much mizunara may be logged each year. Trees grown in Japan’s national forests may not be cut down and must fall naturally – but it is possible to buy trees grown in privately owned forests.

The timber is then sold in blind auctions held between December and March. These are fiercely contested, as supply is tight and demand is high. Mizunara is also highly prized by Japanese carpenters who use its wood to craft luxury furniture. It is in such short supply that only around 200 mizunara casks are made each year. Altogether mizunara casks account for only about one in 10 of the whisky casks maturing in Japan.

This makes mizunara casks dozens of times more expensive than those made of plentiful American oak. They’re even more valuable than a first-fill oloroso Sherry butt made of Spanish oak. ‘It’s many thousands of pounds for each mizunara cask that we bring in,’ says Hyslop (below).

Chivas has a longstanding relationship with a cooperage in Japan. For Hyslop this represents a significant commitment in his annual cask budget, worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Such long-term arrangements are essential because mizunara casks are so hard to come by; Hyslop says they are ‘infinitely more hard to get’ than a sherry cask. ‘If our Sherry cask supplier had a terrible incident, we could probably get them from someone else and it would be a bit disruptive for a little while. But mizunara’s a completely different ballgame.’

Why are mizunara casks so sought after?

In a word: flavour. Mizunara casks get spirits producers’ nostrils twitching. Mizunara has the lowest tannin of any oak species used to make casks. It is also much richer in the vanilla-flavoured compound so prized in wood-aged spirits. Beyond this, mizunara imparts complex and distinctive aromas of sandalwood, tonka bean and kyara incense.

‘I remember lab trials years ago that produced very specific flavour profiles such as heavy almond nuts and marzipan,’ says Dr Nick Savage (below), Bladnoch’s Master Distiller. Savage had experimented with mizunara in previous roles, including at The Macallan.

Now at Bladnoch, he is buying up mizunara casks in which to mature whisky. ‘It’s the oak species and region of growth that drive the majority of the flavours, with the impact of seasoning amplifying or rounding these, along with the levels of toasting generated in the cooperage,’ he explains.

Which spirits can be aged in mizunara?

Chivas may have been the first to mature a blended Scotch in mizunara, but it’s far from the only distiller making use of this wood. Perhaps the two biggest names linked to mizunara are Japanese distilleries Yamazaki and Chichibu. The latter even ferments its whisky in washbacks made of mizunara.

Single malt Scotch and Irish whiskies from Bowmore and Glendalough, respectively, have been aged in mizunara. So too has a Canadian whisky from Mercer + Prince and a bourbon from Angel’s Envy.

Nor is whisky the only spirit to see the inside of these casks. Courvoisier has released two Cognacs aged in mizunara casks secured from Suntory, which owns Yamazaki. Plus there has been a mizunara finished rum from Minoki and gins from Monkey 47 and the Kyoto Distillery’s limited edition Ki Noh Bi range. (A word to the wise: at the time of writing the distillery had gin maturing in at least two more mizunara casks.)

Are spirits aged in mizunara worth the extra money?

Dawn Davies MW, buying director at Speciality Drinks, says mizunara can overpower a drink if not handled carefully. ‘It’s a powerful, spice-driven flavour which is probably not to everyone’s taste. The key is to get that balance right, and I think it is very hard – especially with liquids like Cognacs [that are] more gentle and fruit forward.’

Another difficulty is that the high prices commanded by mizunara-aged spirits in the past can encourage other distillers, seeking to cash in on the wood’s popularity, to take short-cuts. ‘I’m now more wary when something has “mizunara” written on it, if it’s not from someone who’s been using it for a long time and understands what it does to the liquid,’ explains Davies. ‘Often now mizunara has become a marketing tool as opposed to expressing a genuine desire to give a different perspective on the ageing.’

That being said, there are still good bottles out there. The key, according to Davies, is to read the reviews and to see what experts have said about it. ‘Have they given it a good score? Have you seen good write-ups on it? Because then at least you know that there’s a consensus that it’s good liquid.’ For those who can, attending tastings and shows offers a chance to try the spirit for yourself to decide whether you like it.

After all that, the final decision comes down to you, the drinker. There is no universal standard that defines whether one spirit is worth it, while another is not. These spirits will always be an indulgence, but hopefully one where you can say: ‘This is worth it for me, right now’.

Four mizunara aged spirits to try

Chichibu Ichiro’s Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve

Cereal aromas first, then woody and nutty – rather than spicy – with fruity top notes. Over time complexity builds: green apple, honied lemon, soft vanilla, black pepper, coconut, baking spices, fudge, incense, frangipane and candied tropical fruit. Silken and warming on the palate. Arouses an unexpected nostalgia for cups of Horlicks in darkest winter. Alcohol 46%

Chivas Regal Mizunara


A gentle blend that is soft, warming and peachy. Redolent of a wooden blanket box with notes of cedar, coconut and vanilla over smooth and sweet caramel. Soft nut and incense notes bring extra depth. On the finish there is milk chocolate and sweet honeycomb toffee. Cadbury Crunchie fans take note. Alc 40%

Courvoisier Mizunara Cognac 2023 Blend

Brioche and crême pâtissière flavours dominate initially, then are eclipsed by building rancio with aromas of wet leaf and Luxardo cherries. Nutty and spicy mizunara notes blend into these other aromas rather than layering on top. One to savour neat with a close friend over a long and unhurried evening somewhere quiet. Alc 48%

The Matsui Mizunara Single Cask

Unfiltered and uncoloured. Gentle aromas of cereal, honeyed malt and creamy porridge, stone fruit, cherry, vanilla, apple sauce, sandalwood and incense. A rich texture, a little oily, with pale roasted hazelnut towards the finish. Best when diluted with just a splash of water to bring the alcohol into balance with the delicate flavours. Alc 48%

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The great houses of Cognac and Armagnac are rooted in family names – from the arrival in the Charente of Jersey native Jean Martell in 1715, to the decision nine years later by local wine-grower Rémy Martin to start bottling spirit under his own name.

Hennessy Cognac founder Richard Hennessy was an Irish officer in the army of Louis XV, while Emmanuel Courvoisier laid the foundations for the eponymous Jarnac Cognac house when he joined Louis Gallois in business in 1796. Further south, in the town of Condom, Pierre Etienne Janneau started his Armagnac business, in association with Joseph Dubourdieu, in 1851.

Over the centuries, these leading producers have passed into the hands of multinational companies and large conglomerates – in late 2023, it was announced that Italy’s Campari Group had agreed to buy Courvoisier from the Beam Suntory group in a deal worth up to US$1.2bn. Family business, you might say, has become big business.

But, beyond these mega-brands, family connections still run deep in both regions, and in the vineyards and cellars of some of their most quality-conscious producers.

Generation game

Some of these links march back through the centuries. The Frapin family have been wine-growers in Cognac since 1270 – that’s 21 generations and counting. They’ve been bottling supremely elegant and expressive Cognacs from their 240ha of vines at Château de Fontpinot for just over a century now.

By contrast, the Camus clan are relative striplings, numbering just five generations since the house was established in 1863. Over the years, Camus has become synonymous with a range of luxuriously packaged, high-end Cognacs, having an indelible association with the small Borderies cru area, where they farm 188ha of vines.

Cognac can be a small world, too. The Fillioux family boasts a strong association with Hennessy, having for several generations provided the Master Blender for the industry’s dominant producer, and played a key role in the creation of the iconic Hennessy XO. In 1880, however, a spur of the Fillioux family tree broke off when Honoré Fillioux sold his Hennessy shares and began a new Cognac venture.

Today, Cognac Jean Fillioux continues to make up to 3,000 12-bottle cases of Cognac a year at its La Pouyade estate near Juillac-le-Coq, and remains 100% independent, family-owned and intent on expressing the character of Grande Champagne, the small cru area at the heart of the region, centred around Segonzac, where the thin clay-based, chalk-rich soils produce spirits of the greatest finesse and long-ageing quality. Such ventures, says current owner Christophe Fillioux, are vital to perpetuating the diversity of Cognac: ‘There are so many exciting bottlings to discover, fascinating stories, fantastic blends, or vintages,’ he says. ‘It is our role as producers to “fight” and keep offering diversity to our audience.’

Keeping it in the family

A few miles to the west, the Trijol family had been making its own Cognac for more than a century when wine and spirits broker Maxime Trijol set himself up as a professional distiller in 1962. Today, the distillery at St-Martial-sur-Né, on the border between the Grande and Petite Champagne cru areas, is one of the largest privately owned operations in the region, with 22 Charentais pot stills operating 24 hours a day for six months of the year.

The Trijols distil for clients – including some of the most famous names in the region – but they also make a uniformly excellent selection of their own Cognacs under the Maxime Trijol name. What’s particularly admirable is that, while the Grande Champagne VSOP and XO bottlings catch the eye with their crisp florals and elegant precision, the ‘Classic’ variants – which draw on a range of crus including Fins Bois (an extensive area, generally ranked fourth after Borderies in terms of quality) – are every bit as appealing and superb value for money.

For decades, Jean-Jacques Trijol, who took over from his father Maxime in 1972, was at the helm, but there was never any real question that his daughters, Pauline and Anne-Sophie, would follow in his footsteps. To the sisters, the distillery had been their childhood playground; bottles of Cognac were toys.

The pair joined the business in 2013, taking over fully from Jean-Jacques in 2018/19, with Anne-Sophie running the distillation and Pauline overseeing the ageing cellars and blends – although dad is always on hand to offer advice when needed. Family brings a strong element of continuity, with Anne-Sophie seeking to maintain the house style of fresh, elegant, harmonious Cognacs distilled on their lees.

But there is innovation, too. Pauline has introduced the Dry Collection, a highly limited release of very old Cognacs, including Dry Collection No1 in 2021, a Grande Champagne Cognac of great power and depth with an average age of 40 years; and Dry Collection No2, from 2022, a more floral expression of very old Petite Champagne eaux-de-vie. Rare releases numbering only hundreds of bottles at a time, these are hard to find now, but worth seeking out.

‘I wanted to do my own Cognac, my selection, my blend,’ Pauline says. There is great attention to detail here: the Cognacs were bottled at 43% and 42% abv respectively. ‘That was just where the expression was best,’ explains Pauline, adding that ‘40% was too low – and between 41% and 43% the expression was completely different’.

Armagnac roots

Drive south past Bordeaux for two or three hours, through the vast Landes forest, and you swap the vinous monoculture of Grande Champagne for the rolling rural charm of the Gers. Here vines compete with arable crops, livestock and thick woodland; this is deep France, the home of warm summers that have an unmistakable brin du sud (‘a touch of the south’).

It might seem like an idyllic place to grow up, and Thomas Guasch’s childhood memories of living at Château de Bordeneuve are peppered with happiness. But he also recalls that due to the lack of central heating, in winter there was ice on the inside of the windows and in the wash basins.

Like Maxime Trijol, Thomas’ father Jean-Claude Guasch was originally a broker or courtier, giving an enviable inside track on who was who in the world of Armagnac. Since 2000, the family has built up an estate of 42ha, of which 22ha are vineyards, supplying about 90% of its needs, with the aim of becoming self-sufficient in a few years’ time.

The soil here is classic Bas-Armagnac – the sub-region’s tawny sands, scattered with boulbènes (very fine, silty soil) – and the grape varieties are a mix of Ugni Blanc (the classic Cognac variety) and the inimitable Baco 22A. A hybrid variety that was almost banned a generation ago, Baco makes some pretty dubious wine, but is capable of greatness when combined with the classic single-distillation method of Armagnac, and decades in oak.

Guasch has learned to fine-tune the combination of the two varieties – the yin and yang of great Armagnac, in many ways – dialling up the Ugni Blanc in younger expressions such as Baron de Sigognac 10 Year Old (which has only about 20% Baco), but allowing Baco to dominate the brand’s superbly textured 25 Year Old.

Baco is Bas-Armagnac’s trump card, with the obvious caveat that you may have to wait decades for all that power and character to be lulled into something with poise and harmony. And that is something of a speciality for another family business in the region, Armagnac Darroze.

Jean Darroze was a two-star Michelin restaurateur at Villeneuve-de-Marsan when he started sourcing and selling Armagnacs in 1960, alongside his sommelier son Francis. By 1974, Francis had created his first cellar in his father-in-law’s carpentry shop – and today Marc Darroze, son of the late Francis, grandson of Jean, oversees arguably the finest collection of négociant Armagnacs on the market.

These have now mushroomed to cover a range of aged blends – Grands Assemblages – organic Armagnacs and a high-end collection called Luxe Gascon. But the heart of the Darroze business remains the single-property, single-vintage Armagnacs with which the family made its name.

To open a bottle of Darroze Château de Gaube 1971 – possibly one of the finest Armagnacs you will ever have the pleasure to taste – is to celebrate the strength and heritage of the concept of family twice over. First for the domaine owners, the Morel family, for creating such an exemplary spirit; and second for the Darrozes and their expertise in selecting it, bottling it and bringing it to a wider world.

Improving with age: six delectable Cognacs and Armagnacs

Frapin Château de Fontpinot XO 100th Anniversaire

Cognac

From the resurrected 1923 label to the superlative blending, everything about this just oozes class. Heady hedgerow florals, luscious tropical fruit, toasted almond/hazelnut and just a whisper of elusive rancio. All that’s best about Cognac in one glass. Alcohol 41%

Jean Fillioux Très Vieux XO Extra Grande Champagne

Cognac

The familial links with Hennessy fade into insignificance here. For roughly half the price of Hennessy XO you get a fragrant, elegant, expressive Cognac of rare breadth and complexity. Ridiculous value. Alc 40%

Maxime Trijol XO Classic

Cognac

Plenty of powerful spice and oak tannin up front, along with classic notes of ripe citrus and creamy vanilla. The mid-palate is explosively fragrant and round, with a little menthol tension. A benchmark XO at a good price. Alc 40%

Baron de Sigognac 25 Year Old

Armagnac

A blending masterclass combining the grippy power of Baco with silky, fruit-forward Ugni Blanc. Great age brings aromas of cigar leaf and walnut, together with dark honey and banana bread. There’s structure here, but also a beguiling texture and a pleasing finish of white chocolate. Alc 40%

Château de Bordeneuve 1989

Armagnac

Unusually bottled ‘brut de fût’, or at cask strength, the surprise here is the elegance. Ugni Blanc, with its scented flowers and zesty citrus, is to the fore, alongside light baking spices and a little vanilla. Smooth, powerful and perfect for cocktails. Alc 49%

Darroze Les Grands Assemblages 20 Year Old

Armagnac

Although famed for its single-property vintage releases, Darroze has a formidable range of age-stated blends, including this exemplary combination of sweet, stewed plums and apples alongside cinnamon-dusted raisins and sultanas, plus a little curry spice pep. Alc 43%

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Last week, China announced a probe into brandy imported from the European Union (EU) after noting price reductions of 15.88%.

However, producers in France have now questioned the ‘real purpose’ of the investigation, noting that the alleged discounts are unusually small for a formal government probe.

In reality, they have been caught in the crossfire of a tit-for-tat trade dispute between Brussels and Beijing.

It all kicked off when the EU announced a probe into China’s subsidies for electric vehicle makers in September last year.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc has become flooded ‘with cheaper electric vehicles’ that benefit from ‘huge state subsidies’.

It raised the prospect of the commission levying countervailing tariffs on EU imports of Chinese electric vehicles to offset state subsidies and level the playing field.

The dispute heated up last month, when the EU launched another anti-dumping investigation into biodiesel imports from China.

Beijing responded by launching its own investigation into brandy imports from the EU. It imported £1.24bn worth of brandy from the bloc last year, with France accounting for 99.8% of it, according to customs data.

News of the investigation dented the share prices of the leading Cognac producers. Remy Cointreau’s shares are down by more than 16.5% since the start of 2024, while Pernod Ricard’s share price has dipped by around 7.6%.

The Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac, which represents Cognac producers, said the discounts appear ‘singularly low compared to what is generally accepted as justification for an anti-dumping investigation’.

It added that the news ‘reinforces our conviction that our future exchanges with the Chinese authorities will demonstrate that our commercial practices are fully compliant with Chinese and international regulations’.

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A good Cognac isn’t just for Christmas – and it isn’t only for after-dinner sipping either. Young, vibrant Cognacs of VS age or equivalent can make for a great aperitif when mixed with soda and garnished with citrus – or fill a highball glass with ice and stir up a fruit-forward VSOP with ginger ale.

Older Cognacs have the character and depth to shine through in a hedonistic Vieux Carré or a palate-opening Sidecar… but, taken neat, they’re still the ideal accompaniment to some late-night festive contemplation of another year gone by.

Whether you’re buying a gift for a loved one or restocking your own drinks cabinet for the festive season, it’s worth remembering that Cognac can also surprise in terms of its value for money. And not only among the lower VS and VSOP classifications.

Decanter Premium is the ideal last-minute gift for wine lovers!

Best Cognacs for Christmas: 1o to try

Camus Borderies Special Dry

Another liquid exploration of Camus’ vineyards in the tiny Borderies cru, which makes for enticingly aromatic Cognacs with good structure and acidity. Ripe citrus, a touch of cola cube and creamy texture = versatility. Fine on its own, but even better in a supremely fruity Sidecar. Alc 40%

Courvoisier XO Royal

Matured for 20-30 years, this unusually powerful Courvoisier is entitled to the new designation of XXO (as if Cognac needed yet more esoteric terminology…), but let’s focus instead on the unctuous dark fruit with an edge of violets, the spices, dark honey and fig. Pure opulence. Alc 40%

Delamain Pale & Dry XO Centenaire

Pale & Dry is a Christmas comfort to rank alongside It’s A Wonderful Life and leftover turkey curry; rebooted to mark its centenary, but still a gloriously fragrant Cognac with power and poise. Like walking through a wild flower meadow into an orangerie on a summer’s day. Alc 42%

Frapin 1270

Tempting to go for one of Frapin’s superb Fontpinot XOs, but this relative newcomer to the stable has all the hallmarks in accessible form. Fresh, delicately youthful, but upfrontly fruity too, it’s unusually approachable for a young Grande Champagne – and a terrific base for an aperitif or cocktail. Alc 40%

Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise Crystal Decanter

This remarkable Cognac epitomises the potential of combining Grande Champagne fruit with a small (25-hectolitre) still and several decades of patience. A kaleidoscope of flavours – spice bazaar, roasted hazelnut and prunes drowned in chocolate spring to mind – and a silky texture that teases out every nuance. Alc 43%

Jean Fillioux Réserve Familiale

Despite distant family links to the Hennessy master distiller dynasty, the Fillioux Cognacs show a very different, terroir-forward and expressive style. This long-aged example from the family estate is a wonderfully poised reconciliation of delicacy and depth, opulence and fragrance: jasmine, orange zest, cigar leaf and rich mocha. Alc 40%

Jean-Luc Pasquet L’Organic 04

A family-owned estate since 1730 and organically farmed since 1995, Jean-Luc Pasquet straddles Grande and Petite Champagne. This pale, delicate Grande Champagne Cognac is a great entry point, offering a beautiful expression of terroir at an excellent price. Look out for Pasquet’s Folle Blanche bottlings too. Alc 40%

M&S Collection Fine Champagne VSOP Cognac by Hine

Part of the retailer’s new quality spirits range, this tie-in with Hine offers a crowd-pleasing twist on the house style: still vinous and gently supple, but with a bit more oak oomph, creating alluring flavours of walnut, vanilla fudge and liquorice. Terrific value. Alc 40%

Maxime Trijol XO Classic

The ‘classic’ (ie not Grande Champagne) XO from this fabulous family house is one of the best-value XOs you’ll find. Aged for a couple of decades, it’s a winner right from the lifted, perfumed nose through to the firm structure, baking spice flavours and prickle of menthol. Alc 40%

WV Baker Rare Pale Cognac No 02-15

Great to see Cognacs like this gaining some renown. A single-vintage (2015), single-varietal (Colombard) expression, it’s pale, light and rainwater-fresh, with piercing lemon verbena notes, an edge of allspice and a seductively creamy texture. Mix it – but taste it neat first. Alc 43%

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For centuries, pubs have been the backbone of our society, hubs and sanctuaries for connecting people and communities. There’s something so quintessentially British about sitting in a pub garden in the sunshine, or in a comfy chair next to a roaring fire, I don’t think it can be replicated beyond our shores.

It’s been 10 years since my first cookbook Proper Pub Food came out, and this new book invites you into my Pub Kitchen today. It’s a continuation of that first book and a celebration of how far we’ve come as a culinary nation. British pub food has become so strong over the past decade or so, and it’s been really exciting to see.

I’m so proud to be part of such an eclectic and continually evolving food scene. Wherever you are in the country, you can find fantastic local gastropubs with super-tasty dishes on the menu.

Onglet steak with green peppercorn sauce

Onglet (also called beef skirt or hanger steak) is prized for its flavour, but you’ll need to time the cooking carefully as it can become tough if overdone. The steak goes really well with this peppery, creamy sauce flavoured with brandy, herbs and spinach. The brilliant, vibrant colour is also something truly special.

Serves two

Ingredients

• 2 onglet steaks (200g each)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt and freshly ground pepper

For the green peppercorn sauce

• 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp green peppercorns
• 2 tbsp brandy
• 100ml beef stock
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 sprigs tarragon, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped chives
• 75g baby spinach (2 large handfuls), roughly chopped
• 200ml double cream

Method

1. Take the onglet steaks out of the fridge 30 minutes before you intend to cook, to bring them to room temperature. Drizzle them with the olive oil and season.

2. Heat a medium non-stick frying pan over a high heat. When it is smoking hot, place the steaks in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on their thickness. You want a deep brown crust on each side and the steaks should still be springy to the touch.

3. Take the pan off the heat and add the butter to it. Baste the steaks with the melted butter for 2 minutes, keeping the pan off the heat. Transfer the steaks to a warmed plate, spoon over half of the pan juices and set aside to rest in a warm place.

4. Meanwhile, place the frying pan back over a medium heat, add the shallot and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in half the green peppercorns along with the brandy and simmer until the liquor is totally reduced. Now pour in the beef stock and simmer until it is reduced by half. Add the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, herbs, spinach and half of the cream. Stir well until the spinach is wilted.

5. Transfer the sauce to a small food processor and blitz until smooth. Pour this back into the pan and add the remaining green peppercorns and cream. Stir well over a medium heat for 1 minute then remove from the heat. Pour any resting juices from the steak plate into the cream sauce and stir well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Carve the onglet steaks into thick slices. Spoon some sauce on to the warmed serving plates and pour the remaining sauce into two small jugs. Lay each sliced steak on the pool of sauce. Serve at once, with the extra sauce, chunky chips and/or green beans.

Extract taken from Pub Kitchen: The Ultimate Modern British Food Bible by Tom Kerridge (£27 hardback, Bloomsbury Absolute, September 2023)

The wines to drink with onglet steak with green peppercorn sauce

The key to this pairing is not so much the cut of beef as the sauce. Green peppercorns may stand out as the headline ingredient but there are many other flavours: brandy, beef stock, mustard, tarragon, chives, spinach and – and this is significant – quite a lot of cream, which will temper the spiciness of the peppercorns. I’d be tempted to go for a full-bodied red Burgundy from a warm vintage or a similar Pinot from elsewhere – Oregon, maybe, or Central Otago – but you could serve a fleshy Bordeaux – maybe a St-Emilion satellite. (I tend not to field peppery Syrahs with peppercorn sauces as one cancels out the other.) If you wanted to play to the cut’s humble origins you could serve a rustic red like a Marcillac or maybe even a Mencía. I wouldn’t be averse to a good cool-climate Chardonnay either, particularly with the tarragon, mustard and cream, though that may well offend traditionalists. An occasion, though, where you can serve white wine with red meat.

By Fiona Beckett

Wines selected by our Decanter experts

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Sweeping from above the Atlantic ocean-kissed shores of La Rochelle, down the Gironde estuary towards the fêted vineyards of Bordeaux – and reaching far inland through forest, rivers and wheat fields – the Cognac region at first seems mind-bogglingly vast. But while this wide expanse may be one of France’s largest grape-planted areas, the good news for travellers is that there’s a clear first-timer’s itinerary to discovering its liquid treasures. Simply make for the heart of the action in the premium central sub-regions of Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, and the twin spirit-soaked communes of Cognac and Jarnac, for a long weekend of tastings, cellar tours and laid-back exploring.

Covering some 13,000ha in the centre of the Cognac region – and bordering Cognac town – Grande Champagne has highly chalky soils relative to other sub-regions and picturesque vistas of low vine-lined hills. With its white stone buildings along the squiggling river Charente, Cognac town makes a fine base for your explorations, both for its proximity to major houses and its smattering of lovely sights, from half-timbered homes to old cloisters. Conversely, sleepier Jarnac, a 10-minute train ride or 20-minute drive away on the borders of Petite Champagne, has sun-flecked spaces dominated by the grand frontage of Courvoisier and unassuming corners housing the likes of Hine and Louis Royer. Beyond these two communes, countless other small villages radiate outwards with cellars and tasting rooms both big and small, ripe for discovery if you have the time.

How to get there

The nearest well-served airport and major city is Bordeaux-Mérignac (130km south), but flights also go into La Rochelle (110km northwest, on the coast) and Limoges (140km due east inland). Or take a train to Cognac or Jarnac station from Paris in three to four hours.

Tasting experiences

Given the punchier nature of a Cognac tasting in comparison to wine, you’ll likely only want two or three stops a day – which means being selective among the 280 or so regional producers. Wherever your stylistic preferences lie, it’s almost mandatory to begin with the house that’s synonymous with the Cognac category: Hennessy (see ‘My perfect day’, below). Responsible for about 40% of all regional production, the LVMH-owned brand’s rambling facilities are set over a series of vast buildings in the heart of Cognac. Tours come in every shape and size: join a shuttle boat across the river Charente to discover Hennessy through a digital art installation, sampling the characteristically spicy VSOP on a two-hour group tour (€29 per person, times vary so check and book ahead); or cycle through the vineyards ahead of a superb picnic lunch from the kitchens of chef Thierry Verrat, owner of one-star Michelin restaurant La Ribaudière (€130 per person, €65 picnic supplement).

A 15-minute walk away from Hennessy, and somewhat more modest in scale, family-owned Bache Gabrielsen has its headquarters in a small townhouse on tranquil Rue Louis Dominique. In the historic offices where respected Master Blender Jean-Philippe Bergier works his magic, old wooden cupboards line walls and samples from local bouilleurs de cru (‘grower-distillers’) clutter desks awaiting consideration for future assemblages (‘blends’). Join a tour of the onsite cellar, spotting precious demijohns of old vintages and sampling through the smooth and complex range (free of charge). If you’ve the cash, you can even buy your own barrel for bottling when the time is right.

Over in nearby Jarnac, your essential stop is the highly respected Delamain, blending elegant, long-aged Cognacs from an elite selection of farmer-growers around the region with spirit distilled from its own vineyards. The time-warp ageing rooms, filled with barrels and demijohns, are among the most atmospheric to be found in all of Cognac, and private cellar dining experiences with tastings of signature Pale & Dry XO, as well as highly limited Pléiade collection bottlings, let you soak it up to the fullest.

My perfect day in Cognac country

Morning

After a quick spin around the morning produce market in Cognac town, kick off your introduction to the long-aged Cognacs at Hennessy, by far the region’s largest producer. Its 90-minute Initiation visit (€25 per person) is ideal for beginners who want to learn more about the spirit’s production process, but connoisseurs will be more enthralled by the four-hour Grape to Glass masterclass (€500). Afterwards, depending on time, visit Bache Gabrielsen for a brief tour and tasting or try the Château de Cognac, birthplace of François I and now a tasting room for Cognac Baron Otard.

Lunch

Nibble on market-fresh fare at Poulpette (see ‘address book’, below), a few minutes’ walk away across the Charente river. Concise seasonal menus of elevated bistro dishes are paired with wines from small minimal-intervention winemakers such as Languedoc’s Domaine Peyrus and Château Thivin in Beaujolais.

Afternoon

Hop on the train for the 10-minute ride to neighbouring Jarnac – whizzing past rows of grape vines – to get a view of the region’s other must-see centre. You should have booked ahead if you want to explore the atmospheric ageing rooms of Delamain; access is limited. But you will also find a newly renovated tour area in the grand Courvoisier building, set opulently on the riverside. Book the 1.5-hour tour and tasting, then enjoy a pick-me-up coffee in a quiet square in the sun and soak up the laid-back Gallic atmosphere.

Evening 

Take the train back to Cognac for dinner at restaurant Les Foudres, set among 100-year-old barrels in the centre of town at Hôtel Chais Monnet. Afterwards, the hotel’s 1838 Jazz Bar awaits with its unrivalled selection of Cognacs – there are more than 220 pours to choose from. Ask the knowledgeable bartenders to put together a tasting flight for you to sip while you enjoy some live music.

And beyond

Now, venture into the countryside. Set just outside scenic castle town Bouteville among spectacular, meandering country roads, Jean-Luc Pasquet is a small husband and wife set-up operating as both bouilleur de cru and blender. Working organically across about 15ha, mostly of Folle Blanche and Ugni Blanc, they encourage biodiversity on site and distil in their historic farmyard building. Settle into the tasting room sofa with American-born Amy Pasquet and savour the appley four-year-old L’Organic or spicy, leathery 10-year-old.

An innovator of another breed in the commune of Ars, Maison Ferrand was founded in its current form by Burgundian Alexandre Gabriel – the brain behind the refined and dynamic Plantation Rum range – in 1989. The focus is not only on quality but on crafting unique, consumer-friendly bottlings such as 10 Générations, aged partly in ex-Sauternes casks, and Double Cask Réserve, rested in barrels that formerly held Banyuls. There is not officially a visitor centre, but some visitors are welcomed by appointment; enquire via the website.

For one more boutique stop-off, consider Bourgoin Cognac, just outside Angoulême, a Charente city you may recognise for its starring role in Wes Anderson’s film The French Dispatch. The ‘micro barrel’ XO range produced from family vineyards is decadent, nutty and accomplished – and a first-rate bottled verjus (unripe grape juice) for cooking or cocktail making is also produced. Join a 90-minute ‘safari’ in the vines (€75 per person) for the most comprehensive experience.

Ultimately, wherever you choose to stop off in Cognac, you’ll discover a range of delicious – and often excellent-value – aged eaux-de-vie that show exactly why the spirit is held in such high esteem. And unlike many wine regions, Cognac can be an enticing prospect in winter – not only for the pleasure of sipping a fragrant VSOP by a roaring hotel fire, but because distillation takes place between October and March (Jean-Luc Pasquet, for example, is even known to invite some visitors to take part in the process if booked as a special package: contact directly to enquire).

Saying that, if you want sunshine, spring is the loveliest time. The leaves are green on the vines, the sun bathes walks along the Charente river and the mood is jovial. Even if you’ve never been much of a Cognac drinker, a few days in this fascinating region will quickly have you entranced.

Your Cognac address book

Accommodation

Domaine des Etangs

East of Cognac town, this luxurious, turreted château hotel is nestled on rambling farmland with lakes, cattle and large-scale sculpture. Decor is contemporary and art=forward, and an honesty bar stocks sublime, vanilla-noted Bourgoin Cognac.

Hȏtel Chais Monnet & Spa

Locations don’t get more prime: right in the heart of Cognac town centre. Set within former cellars reworked into a sculptural, contemporary vision of glass and steel, also ticking boxes for its Michelin-starred restaurant (see ‘Les Foudres’, below), elegant spa and list of local experiences, ranging from private tours to bike rides through vineyards.

Le Relais de Saint-Preuil

For a cosy traditional manor house atmosphere, coddled in vines in between Cognac and Angoulême. A suntrap pool awaits for post-tasting relaxation in summer, while roaring open fires warm in cooler months.

Restaurants

Le Verre y Table

A few steps from Jarnac rail station, this modernist, conceptual dining space dishes up the likes of Charron mussels with pineau, or trout with squid ink and lemongrass. A €29 set lunch menu is great value, and any time of day the extensive Cognac menu is welcome.

Les Foudres

Located in a former ageing warehouse, this one-star Michelin restaurant has distinct local flair. Menus include the likes of caviar butter with seaweed brioche, asparagus with coffee and Martell Cognac creme, or stone bass with cream bottarga and potatoes.

Poulpette

With a concise menu and contemporary platings, this Cognac town restaurant, located a short walk from the Charente river, is a favourite with locals thanks to its regularly changing market menu. Wash it all down with a wine list featuring cult producers.

Things to do

Abbaye de Bassac

With more than a thousand years of history, this rambling stone abbey outside Jarnac gives insight into Benedictine lifestyle and French architectural styles from Romanesque to Baroque. Its wealth of delightful outside spaces are perfect for wandering around in the spring and summer months.

Le Baume de Bouteville

This artisan vinegar producer uses locally grown grapes in its production and ages its balsamic-style concoctions in ex-Cognac barrels. Join a tour and tasting (with fresh oysters, if desired) at its boutique headquarters under the shadow of Bouteville’s château.

River cruises

Tour the snaking river Charente aboard electro-solar boat Bernard Palissy III, setting off west of Cognac town and taking in cobbled settlements, farmers’ fields and sun-sparkled water

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Calvados is one of the ‘big three’ French brandies along with Cognac and Armagnac. Like its southern cousins, it matures in oak barrels and comes out bearing VS, VSOP and XO labels at two, four and six years, respectively. But where Cognac and Armagnac are based on grapes, Calvados begins life in the orchards of Normandy as apples and pears.

Its 300 producers make about 6 million bottles each year, half of which head overseas. Given this, it might seem odd that the UK doesn’t see more of it. Truth be told, le calva spent the last few decades in the doldrums. Now though its fortunes are on the up. Established brands such as Drouin and Coquerel are driving innovation, while new producers like Avallen and 30&40 have injected fresh energy.

Where is Calvados made?

Calvados is governed by three sets of overlapping AOC regulations. Each one has slightly different rules on the type of still that may be used and the proportion of apples and pears that can go into the mix.

The Calvados AOC is the main appellation and extends over all of Normandy. It is also the broadest, allowing apples and pears in any proportion, distilled in either pots or columns, and aged for at least two years in oak.

Calvados Pays d’Auge covers an area just east of Caen, stretching from Deauville on the coast to about 30km south of Lisieux. Producers here may use at most 30% pears and must only use copper pots to distil their spirit.

Calvados Domfrontais lies a small distance southwest of this, centred around the town of Domfront-en-Poiraie. Here the mix must be at least 30% pears, and distillers must use column stills heated by an open fire. They must also mature their spirit for at least three years rather than the usual two.

What does Calvados taste like?

In a word: familiar. We all know apples. This makes Calvados very approachable, especially for drinkers new to spirits aged in wood. The oak barrels add layers of vanilla and baking spices. Apple crumble and custard, anyone? Adding in pears brings a light and floral character; if you’ve ever compared perry to cider this should be familiar ground.

Younger Calvadoses tend to be lighter and more fruit-forward. They often display floral and fruity aromas from their fermentation that complement the flavours of the fruit. The influence of the oak is, at this stage, more of a gentle background depth. Think brioche and glazed pastries filled with crème pâtissière.

With age the fruit develops, changing from fresh to something more like baked or poached apples and pears. Tarte tatin springs to mind now. The flavours from the barrels usually grow stronger and in some spirits a tannic dryness can develop on the finish.

How to drink Calvados

For a long time Calvados was all-but synonymous with le trou Normand, which saw it swigged neat as a digestif after a meal – or even between courses if table and diners alike were especially laden with food. Its other main role was as a fortifying pick-me-up glugged into hot coffee on a cold, damp morning.

Nowadays you’re more likely to see le café calva reinterpreted as a riff on the Espresso Martini, as Calvados enjoys a resurgence powering cocktails. It can also be mixed into long, refreshing apple spritzes; younger, lighter Calvadoses perform especially well in this mode.

For an autumnal cocktail to celebrate the apple harvest, stir equal parts young Calvados and sweet vermouth over ice with a couple of dashes of Angostura Bitters, then strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a maraschino cherry. Sounds like a Manhattan, but maybe it’s more of a Big Apple?

Calvados to try

30&40 Extra Old 10 Year Old Calvados

Independent bottler 30&40 has a single cask range and a range of blends. This is a blend of four Calvadoses from three producers, aged between 10 and 28 years. Expect fruity apple and quince aromas with baked apples, stewed peaches and buttery fudge on the palate. Alcohol 42%

Avallen Calvados

This is a young Calvados and very approachable. You’ll find notes of crisp, light apples overlaid with floral notes. It’s great for mixing into a cocktail or spritz. Every bottle sold removes 2.73kg o carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and part of the profits fund charities to support bees. Alc 40%

Christian Drouin Caroni Angels Calvados

This Calvados is matured in oak for 17 years before soaking in former Caroni rum casks for a further eight months. It has complex aromas of roasted apple, dried apricot, leather, petroleum and brown sugar. Toasted and smoky baked apple joins on the palate. Alc 48.8%

Didier Lemorton 30 Year Old Domfrontais Calvados

Domfrontais Calvados is harder to find in the UK, but thankfully this is a fine example and good value too. Pears make up 70% of the mix, so they rule the flavour roost. Expect elegant poached pear and toffee apple, honey, caramel, vanilla and peppery spice. Alc 40%

Michel Huard 2003 Calvados

This well-regarded family producer, now run by its seventh generation, makes mainly vintages rather than the usual non-vintage blends. This means each bottle is made from fruit grown and distilled in the year shown on the label. This one, distilled in 2003, displays light notes of green apple, caramel and nutmeg. Alc 40%

Père Magloire VSOP Pays d’Auge Calvados

A rich and fruity Calvados from one of the spirit’s premier producers. Aged for at least four years, it has floral aromas of apple blossom and jasmine, ripe apple and apricot. Expect rich flavours of honey and vanilla, buttery caramel, hazelnut and almond, stewed apples and cinnamon. Alc 40%

Pierre Huet 1972 Calvados

This is aged for 38 years in 100-year-old French oak barrels before bottling. It has a rich aroma of fresh green apples that develops into autumnal, mushroomy rancio notes. The mellow palate has light flavours of tarte tatin and Madeira. Enjoy at room temperature as a digestif. Alc 42%

Roger Groult Calvados 12 Year Old

Another Pays d’Auge Calvados, but it’s all apples and no pears. This comes from a fifth-generation producer who double distils over a wood fire. It is fruity and complex, with rich floral notes and mature apple flavours over hazelnut and sweet spice. Alc 41%

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Any discussion of the relative merits of Cognac and Armagnac can all too easily descend into trite generalisations. Cognac is invariably described as ‘refined’ and ‘elegant’, Armagnac as ‘rustic’ and ‘earthy’. Luckily for us, the truth is altogether less reductive, and more interesting to explore.

There are obvious contrasts between these two great French spirits that transcend mere geography, encompassing history, culture, terroir, grape variety, distillation and maturation. But there are commonalities too and, within each region, subtle contrasts and nuances that defy lazy preconceptions.

Let’s start with the land. Cognac’s vineyards span a vast area from La Rochelle south almost to Bordeaux, and from the Atlantic east beyond Angoulême. Meanwhile Armagnac’s vines are more scattered throughout a varied rural Gascon landscape.

In both cases, the most celebrated zones have a distinctive character. Cognac’s Grande Champagne enclave is famed for its deep, crumbly chalk soils; while Bas-Armagnac combines sables fauves (tawny sands) and boulbènes – a mix of silt and sand. Two highly contrasting terroirs, but both equally capable of producing ageworthy brandies with great structure, concentration and elegance.

Another obvious difference lies in grape varieties. Cognac is dominated by Ugni Blanc (Italy’s Trebbiano), which covers about 98% of its 78,000ha of vines. Armagnac, however, offers a diverse mix of the hybrid grape Baco with not only Ugni Blanc, but also the delicate but fragile Folle Blanche, and Colombard.

Distillation and maturation

Then there’s distillation. Cognac is made using a small-batch, double distillation process in a Charentais copper pot still, with only the heart of the distillate taken for ageing, resulting in a relatively clean eau-de-vie coming off the still at about 70-72% abv. Most Armagnacs, though, are made via a single, continuous distillation in a distinctive column still – making for a more characterful spirit typically at about 55% abv when filled into cask.

While Cognac is matured in oak barrels sourced from the Tronçais and Limousin forests, Armagnacs often use wider-grained Gascon oak, especially early in their ageing process. This means more flavour contribution – often in the form of spice – from the wood.

So far, so straightforward. The contrasts between Cognac and Armagnac could hardly be more evident. The problem is that the truth – the whole truth, anyway – is nothing like as simple.

A varied taste of terroir

Sure, a fine-boned Grande Champagne is probably the classic expression of Cognac, but Grande Champagne is only one small part of a vast and sprawling region. Petite Champagne’s chalk is subtly different, while the tiny Borderies cru showcases an enticing, aromatic fruity character (Camus and Martell are big fans).

Fins Bois offers heterogenous clay/limestone soils and supple, immediate charm – but there’s chalk here too. Move further out to the coastal Bois à Terroirs cru and you’ll find light, saline Cognacs from spots such as the Île de Ré.

Armagnac’s terroir is, if anything, even more diverse. The uncompromising power of a Bas-Armagnac Baco may be its most distinctive incarnation, but move east into the Ténarèze area and you can find Ugni Blanc growing on chalk, as well as boulbène soils with more obvious echoes of Bas-Armagnac itself.

Adding complexity

While it’s true to say that most Armagnac is distilled once, double-distillation is also used here. This was the original method of Armagnac production, and was revived in the region in the early 1970s when local producer Janneau was owned by Martell. Good examples of double-distilled Armagnacs today come from the likes of Janneau and Samalens.

Double-distillation in Cognac is universal, but here too different flavour profiles and characters are created, depending on how the stills are manipulated. Does the producer distil on the lees? This is more painstaking, but it can make a big difference to the complexity and texture of the spirit.

Ugni Blanc may be dominant in Cognac, but it doesn’t constitute a monoculture. You’ll still find pockets of Folle Blanche, Colombard and Folignan – a relatively new cross of Ugni Blanc and Folle Blanche. Single varietal Colombard Cognacs, with a supple, vinous fruit character, are worth seeking out for curiosity value alone – Camus sourced an interesting example from Cognac’s southwestern fringes at St-Aulaye, near Bergerac, a few years back. Meanwhile WV Baker’s Rare Pale expression (see below) is about as idiosyncratic as Cognac gets.

The human factor

For every apparent rule in Cognac and Armagnac, there’s an exception. This helps foster diversity and makes both regions endlessly fascinating to explore. There’s also one more aspect that is central to shaping this ever-changing landscape: the human hand.

From the way the vineyards are farmed to the decisions around winemaking and distillation. From the selection of casks to the choice of cellaring conditions (warm? cool? humid? dry?) and pinpointing the precise best moment for bottling. People are the most vital element in the creation of the expressions we love.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the process of blending, the alchemical, art-meets-science process that lies behind the vast majority of Cognacs and Armagnacs on the market today. Each bottle bears not only the hallmark of the vineyard, distillery and cellar in which it was created, it also carries the signatures of the people – vigneron, distiller, chef de caves – who helped to bring it to life.

Best new Cognacs and Armagnacs: eight to try

Camus XO Cognac

Newly packaged in an elegant reusable decanter, this shows how the Borderies cru hits its stride after a decade in cask. Rich, with assertive oak but always those quintessentially Borderies aromas. Everything a traditional XO should be. Alcohol 40%

Darroze Domaine de Péré 1992 Bas-Armagnac

Top-notch Armagnac, treading a tightrope between power and grace. A blend of 40% Baco and 60% Ugni Blanc gives plenty of funky depth and dark chocolate, alongside a basket of super-ripe, juicy fruits, with cassis to the fore. Sheer decadence. Alc 56%

Hine Bonneuil 2012 Cognac

Sourced from Hine’s vineyards in the heart of Grande Champagne to highlight the vital role of the vine. Aromatic, with scents of honeysuckle and jasmine, a pinch of white pepper and a hint of hazelnut. Fresh, expressive and highly vinous. Alc 42.5%

Laballe Bas-Armagnac 12 Year Old Rich

The famille Laudet has been growing grapes on Bas-Armagnac’s fabled sables fauves for more than 200 years. This is a wonderfully poised combination of punchy grip and perfumed elegance, with a finish of caramel and sweet fruit. A great all-rounder. Alc 44.2%

Martell l’Or Zodiac, l’Assemblage du Lapin

The second release in Martell’s Zodiac series. Cellar Master Christophe Valtaud created this astonishing blend from 700 eaux-de-vie, with an emphasis on rare old Cognacs from previous Years of the Rabbit. Jasmine and chamomile meld into dried tropical fruits and fig – all slathered in rich honey. Alc 41%

Frapin 1990 30 Year Old

A voluptuous Cognac aged in humid cellars for a rounded, broad character. Dried apricot and brighter tangerine notes are accompanied by a dusting of nutmeg and scents of unlit cigar. The elusive savoury scent of long age – rancio – permeates the long finish. Alc 41.8%

Jean-Luc Pasquet L’Organic 07

Pasquet’s vineyards have been organically farmed since 1995, and this relatively youthful Cognac offers plenty of lively citrus fruit, a creamy texture and a touch of cola cube. Tension and acidity make this perfect in a refreshing Sidecar cocktail. Alc 40%

WV Baker Rare Pale Cognac No 02-15

A real curiosity: a 100% Colombard, six-year-old, single-estate, single cask Cognac. Fragrant, floral and youthful, with orchard fruits plus an edge of spice. Mix it by all means, but try it neat first – lemon verbena notes make this most un-Cognac like. Alc 43%

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There are few classic cocktails as underappreciated as the Pisco Sour: a fresh, aromatic combination of pisco, lime juice, sugar and bitters that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Its headline ingredient, Chile and Peru’s brandy, or grape eau-de-vie, is just as underrated – at least outside its home countries.

There’s plenty of debate between the Chileans and Peruvians about who has the stronger claim to pisco, and indeed whose version is better. But for those of us with no skin in the game, drinkers without borders seeking the most delicious spirits, having a bottle of both at home is an advantage, resulting in a broader range of styles.

There are other brandies out there, but none showcases the grape, and its terroir, quite like pisco. ‘Pisco is the ultimate aromatic essence of the juice of characterful grapes,’ says Tom Bartram of Speciality Brands, UK importer of Peruvian pisco BarSol. ‘It has an unrivalled concentration of fruity and floral flavours, and represents more than 400 years of history and culture.’

Sany Bacsi, of Peruvian international restaurant and bar group Coya, agrees. ‘Pisco’s complexity is fascinating, with flavours and characteristics varying between different grape varieties and terroirs. It has a rich history and a lot of soul.’

Aromatic purity

Most piscos aren’t aged in oak, allowing them to be a pure expression of the grapes. ‘You can really taste the grape varieties your pisco is made from,’ explains Henry Jeffreys of online retailer Master of Malt. ‘You’re getting the essence of the base wine.’

While they share a name, and are all distilled from grapes, the piscos of Peru and Chile are made differently, resulting in different characteristics. Where the grapes are grown has an impact on the flavour, too, of course.

Chilean piscos arguably have more in common with conventional spirits production than their Peruvian counterparts. In Chile, where pisco must be made within the Atacama and Coquimbo regions, regulations allow producers a degree of freedom when it comes to how they distil the base wine, and oak ageing is permitted.

In Peru, meanwhile, the wine must be distilled to its final strength. Unlike other spirits, no water – or indeed anything else – can be added; the final product contains nothing but grape distillate. Peruvian pisco makers also produce highly sought-after expressions from partially fermented grape juice, known as mosto verde piscos.

These differences mean that, on the whole, Chilean piscos tend to be lighter while, as Bartram puts it, ‘Peruvian piscos usually have more weight and are more robust’.

How to make a Pisco Sour

The best-known version of this classic cocktail, with egg white and the iconic three drops of bitters, is the Peruvian version, with Chileans omitting these two ingredients. It’s worth following the Peruvians here.

Many maintain that a single- varietal pisco such as Quebranta is the best choice, but the beauty of pisco lies in its variety of styles, so experimentation won’t go unrewarded.

When it comes to bitters – with the three drops representing health, wealth and happiness – there’s nothing wrong with Angostura, although Peruvian brand Amargo Chuncho is the more authentic option (Alc 40% Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange).

Finally, halving an egg white, while not impossible, is best avoided by making two of these at a time…

Pisco Sour

Glass: Tumbler or coupe

Garnish: Three drops of bitters

Method: Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice. Shake hard and strain into the glass. Add three drops of bitters to garnish.

Ingriedients: 50ml pisco, 25ml freshly squeezed lime juice, 12.5ml sugar syrup, 1⁄2 egg white

Border controls

Permitted grape varieties differ between the two countries, too, which adds even more diversity to this already fascinating spirit. In Peru, producers divide their grapes into aromatic varieties, such as Italia, Moscatel and Torontel, and non- aromatic, such as Quebranta. These are used in single-varietal piscos (puros) and in blends (acholados). In Chile, varieties include various Muscats, as well as Torontel.

While both countries claim pisco as their own, Peruvian ownership of the Pisco Sour is less subject to debate. Origin stories attribute an early incarnation of the cocktail to American bartender Victor Vaughen Morris, who opened his bar in the Peruvian capital of Lima in 1916.

It’s the cocktail most associated with pisco. ‘The classic Pisco Sour is obviously the first libation that springs to mind, and deservedly so – it’s delicious,’ says Bartram. ‘But in Peru the Chilcano rivals its popularity: a long drink with pisco, ginger ale, a dash of bitters and a squeeze of lime.’

Unsurprisingly, there are many other ways to enjoy this versatile spirit. ‘There are few things better than a refreshing Pisco Tonic on a hot summer evening,’ says Coya’s Bacsi.

Then there’s the Pisco Punch, another neglected classic, combining pisco, pineapple syrup and lime juice, with room for a personal touch. ‘With culinary flair, you can vary the Pisco Punch’s ingredients from one day to the next,’ says Amathus Drinks managing director Harry Georgiou.

Beyond that, there are piscos that make wonderful Martinis, and those that are ideal for serving neat – just some of the many ways in which to explore this diverse and multifaceted spirit.

Spirit of the grape: Six top piscos to try

1615 Pisco Mosto Verde Torontel

Peru

Distilled from partially fermented Torontel, grown in Lanchas in the province of Pisco, this is multilayered and complex, with raisins and curry spice alongside potpourri and even a touch of leather – fascinating, and well suited to a neat serve. Alcohol 42%

ABA

Chile

A 100% Muscat of Alexandria pisco made in Chile’s Elqui Valley by the Aguirre family. There’s wonderful purity of fruit here, with grainy pear and peach joined by sweet spice and lifted by some lime peel towards the finish. Alc 40%

Demonio de Los Andes Acholado

Peru

Peru’s Tacama, in the Valle de Ica, lays claim to being the oldest vineyard in South America. This acholado blends a number of grape varieties, including Quebranta, Albilla and Italia, resulting in a rounded, almost-creamy spirit with lime zest and icing sugar, and deeper notes of spiced pear. Alc 40%

El Gobernador

Chile

The Torres family, known for its wines and brandies, produces El Gobernador in the Limarí Valley. A blend of Muscat of Alexandria and Muscat Rosada results in rich peach and tarte tatin notes, balanced by fresh citrus and backed by a lovely floral component. Alc 40%

Viñas de Oro Quebranta

Peru

This single-varietal Quebranta is an indulgent spirit, rich with vanilla ice cream and peach cobbler notes on the nose, and a punchy, spicy mouthfeel with a nutty component and a touch of salinity. It’s made at Viñas de Oro, in the Chincha province of Peru. Alc 41%

Waqar

Chile

At Pisquera Tulahuén, in Chile’s Limarí Valley, the Camposano family leverages five generations of pisco-making tradition to create Waqar, distilled in wood-fired copper alembic stills. The Muscat grape character really shines through here, with juicy citrus and a lemongrass note. Also look out for Heron, Waqar’s aged expression. Alc 40%

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Cognac house Rémy Martin has launched a third edition of its Louis XIII Rare Cask series. Rare Cask 42.1 is presented in a striking black crystal Baccarat decanter. Only 775 decanters will be released in the global market.

The exclusive Cognac was selected by Baptiste Loiseau, fifth-generation cellar master of Louis XIII, from barrels of eaux-de-vie maturing in the cellars of Domaine du Grollet in Cognac. The Limousin oak barrels, known as tierçons, contain eaux-de-vie sourced from the Grande Champagne region.

‘A year ago, I noticed something subtle and extraordinary about a singular tierçon,’ said Loiseau. ‘Rare Cask 42.1 has very specific nose and palate sensations that creates a perfect point of balance,’ he explained.

‘In order to discover Rare Cask 42.1, I listened to my instincts and favoured emotion over science. I called upon my memories. It took me back to my childhood and my roots here in Cognac,’ Loiseau added.

Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.1 (Alc 42.1%) is described as offering typical Louis XIII aromas – rich and complex notes of dried fruits, spice, pot pourri, honey, passion fruit, cigar box and leather – but with more pronounced floral tones.

The unveiling of Rare Cask 42.1 follows the release of Rare Cask 42.6 in 2009, which was selected by Loiseau and former cellar master Pierrette Trichet. The inaugural release by Trichet, back in 2004, was Rare Cask 43.8.

Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.1 is the first of the Rare Cask releases to be presented as a set. The black crystal decanter with a gold- and rhodium-finished neck is accompanied by Pillet crystal glasses and a serving pipette decorated with a black medallion. Each individual set will cost £47,000.

Sets will be available to buy from 20 June, with limited allocations for both the UK and US. In the UK Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.1 will be available exclusively at the Louis XIII Boutique at Harrods in London.

Selected bars in 13 countries will also be offering Rare Cask 42.1 by the glass. They include the recently refurbished Vesper Bar at The Dorchester in London, as well as venues in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Paris, Zurich and Dubai.

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A Cognac fit for a king

Maison Courvoisier has added a new XO expression to its range of Cognacs. Courvoisier XO Royal is a blend of old Fins Bois de Jarnac and Grande Champagne eaux-de-vie. It pays homage to Edward VII Réserve, a blend that was created in the early 20th century by Courvoisier’s first chief blender Henri Prodeaux for the then-king of England. A few bottles of this rare old Cognac are preserved in Courvoisier’s Paradis cellar in Jarnac and formed the starting point for Patrice Pinet, the house’s sixth chief blender, to create the new expression. ‘It is a privilege to pay homage to Maison Courvoisier’s historic recipe crafted for distinguished royalty,’ said Pinet. ‘Courvoisier XO Royal marries exceptionally rare eaux-de-vie to create a full-bodied blend that balances heritage, craftsmanship, tradition and innovation.’ The new XO combines lingering complexity and depth with Courvoisier’s signature floral style. £300-£330/70cl Harrods, Harvey Nichols

What is… barrel strength?

Some aged spirits are described as ‘barrel strength’ or ‘cask strength’ – but what does this mean? Strength refers to the amount of alcohol by volume (abv) in a spirit, measured as the number of millilitres of ethanol per 100ml of liquid. The typical abv is 40%. Aged whisky or rum begins life with a higher abv as some alcohol will evaporate during the time the liquid spends in wooden casks. After maturation, producers can choose to dilute the spirit back to about 40% or – in order to preserve a certain character or flavours – to bottle their spirit at whatever strength it has reached in the barrel, hence the term ‘barrel strength’. This will always be higher than the typical 40% – anything up to 66% – so be aware that a barrel-strength whisky will be stronger than a regular whisky.

What to drink now… Penicillin

As the days get colder, why not try a fortifying shot of Penicillin? This modern classic is a twist on a Whisky Sour and was invented by Australian bartender Sam Ross at Milk & Honey bar in New York in 2005. Taking its name from the drug invented by Alexander Fleming and the medicinal qualities of honey and ginger, the cocktail has a complexity that comes from combining blended Scotch whisky with a smoky Islay single malt. Try Laphroaig 10 Year Old (available through Amazon UK).

Penicillin

Ingredients: 45ml blended Scotch whisky, 20ml lemon juice, 20ml honey syrup, 15ml ginger liqueur, 10ml Islay single malt whisky

Glass: Rocks

Garnish: Candied ginger

Method: Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake until your hands are cold, then strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and garnish

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Cognac today is the culmination of centuries of history and generations of accumulated expertise. The world’s pre-eminent brandy (although the Cognaçais don’t care for the b-word), it has conquered the planet from San Francisco to Shanghai, with many millions of bottles of Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier consumed every year. Change? Innovate? Why on earth would anyone want to do that?

And yet they are. Some of this new thinking is rooted in the way Cognac is made – the grapes used, the oak in which it ages – and some of it is a less-tangible leap of the imagination, lifting the veil on one of the world’s more mysterious spirits and unlocking the stories that lurk in vineyard and cellar.

Alexandre Gabriel, owner and master blender at Maison Ferrand, is the closest Cognac gets to a rebel. Not content with maturing Cognac only in oak barrels, he’d also like to use chestnut, acacia or mulberry wood. ‘The know-how of making these barrels is still alive in Cognac,’ he says. ‘I know quite a lot of people who believe in reactivating some of that heritage. Why should it be sidelined?’

There are ways around the rules, as long as you’re not fussy about what you put on the label. Ferrand’s Renegade Barrel project has seen Gabriel part-mature Grande Champagne eau-de-vie in chestnut wood and, in the third and latest release, prohibited Jamaican rum casks. The catch is that they’re not technically Cognac – which the regulations stipulate must be matured in barrels made of oak, sourced from within France or elsewhere, as long as they have not previously held anything other than wine or fortified wine. Instead, they’re labelled as ‘eau de vie de vin’. But whether the Ferrand fans who snap up these limited releases care is a moot point.

Gabriel would love the regulations to change – he wryly acknowledges that it might happen ‘by the time I’m 75’ – but others are not so sure. Courvoisier’s recent Mizunara release stays within the rules because it was part-matured in a virgin Japanese mizunara oak cask. Had that cask previously contained Japanese whisky, it would have been outlawed.

‘It’s really important for us to have rules,’ says Courvoisier maître de chai Thibaut Hontanx. ‘That’s what makes us Cognac, and there’s still plenty of room for innovation. Mizunara is just one of them, but there are lots of others. If you want, you can create something new.’

Talking out loud

Sometimes true innovation comes not in the way that something is made, but the way it is talked about. Historically, Cognac has been notoriously shy about many aspects of its creation, instead content to surf the fame of its big names, and the catch-all age designations of VS, VSOP, XO et al. That’s changing now. The front labels for Delamain’s Pléiade Cognacs are teeming with frankly geeky information, from cask number to details of filtration and reduction techniques – and, according to Delamain managing director Charles Braastad, that’s no accident. ‘There is so much to say about Cognac, so much to explain,’ he says. ‘We have thousands of casks in our cellars and they are all different. We want to bring more transparency.’

The third annual tranche of Pléiade releases includes a £184 single-cask expression of La Rambaudie, the Grande Champagne vineyard now managed by Delamain. Beyond terroir, the range also serves to highlight the human element – the people who toil, with very little publicity, to craft the Cognacs the world loves. Delamain’s Témoignage de M Dauge (‘Mr Dauge’s Testimony’) is a remarkable Cognac with a remarkable story. Distilled by an octogenarian grower using a tiny, ancient, copper pot still in 1969, just before it was taken out of commission, it matured for decades in his humid cellar at Bourg-Charente, close to the Charente river.

‘This Cognac has been made by one man,’ says Braastad. ‘You’re not buying a car, you’re taking something from him that he’s been cherishing for 50 or 55 years. It’s very emotional, because it’s like father and son.’

The human touch

According to the Cognac regulatory body BNIC, more than 4,000 people tend the vineyards of Cognac, with – to date – little acknowledgement beyond the region’s borders of their crucial contribution. But Baptiste Loiseau, cellar master at Rémy Martin, wants that to change.

Rémy Martin L’Etape – meaning a step, or a stage – is a 7,000-bottle blend of 14 eaux-de-vie sourced from growers across the premier-quality Grande and Petite Champagne regions who have all achieved France’s HVE (high environmental value) certification. Its paper wrapping includes testimonials from them all, a map showing their locations and a QR code giving further information. It’s only available in France so far, but hopefully that will change.

Meanwhile, Rémy Martin Tercet explores this human element further, highlighting the respective roles of a three-person human chain (a tercet is a three-line poem): grower Francis Nadeau, distiller Jean-Marie Bernard and cellar master Loiseau.

Now a permanent part of the Rémy Martin range, it also showcases Loiseau’s quest to dial up the fruit elements of Fine Champagne eaux-de-vie (minimum 50% Grande Champagne blended with Petite Champagne). ‘For me, the cask is something that has to support the flavours in the eaux-de-vie and has to support their potential,’ he explains. ‘We don’t want the oak to overpower the eaux-de-vie.’

And, on the broader aims shared by Tercet and L’Etape, he adds: ‘We have to highlight where we are coming from. It’s not just a question of VSOP or XO any more, it’s about being transparent. We were maybe a little bit too shy about that in the past.’ Not any more.

Eight innovative Cognacs to try

Camus Borderies Special Dry

Camus continues its exploration of the Borderies cru with this supple, fruit-and-flowers Cognac matured in fine-grained, gently toasted Limousin oak for a dry finish. Relatively youthful – three to eight years old – and perfect for mixing. Alcohol 40%

Courvoisier Mizunara

Grippy and assertive by Courvoisier standards, with the house’s trademark juicy fruit edging into more exotic territory, the whole given a perfumed, seductively spicy edge by finishing in Japanese Mizunara oak. Boldly priced, reflecting

its rarity. Alc 48%

Delamain Pléiade Collection Apogée Mr Dauge’s Testimony

Sourced from Bourg-Charente, made in an ancient, small pot still and mainly aged in humid conditions. Rich and dense, with figs, dried apricot and a big lift of anise on the mid-palate. Leather and spice dominate the long-lingering finish. Alc 46%

Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2010

From Hine’s own estate, this is as pure an expression of vineyard and vintage as you’ll find. Elegant, harmonious and fruit-forward, with a pinch of spice, a nip of menthol and no oak intrusion. Alc 42.1%

Ferrand Renegade Barrel No3 Jamaican Rum

When Grande Champagne meets Jamaican rum casks, the result is technically not Cognac, but an ‘eau-de-vie de vin’, as shown on the label. This is intensely fruity – guava, tangerine and black banana – with notes of nutmeg and coffee roaster. Alc 48.2%

Martell Blue Swift

Another Cognac-that’s-not-a-Cognac, thanks to this VSOP’s finishing period in ex-bourbon barrels, bringing rich, sweet notes of grilled pears dusted with cinnamon, vanilla custard and ginger. Toasty, coconutty and eminently mixable. Alc 40%

Rémy Martin L’Etape

A micro-blend (14 eaux-de-vie) showcasing vineyards with high environmental standards. Young and supple, bright and floral, with orange peel melding into peach and gentle spice. The concept is as admirable as the Cognac. Alc 40%

Rémy Martin Tercet

This new addition to the Rémy Martin range highlights the contributions of wine-grower, distiller and blender. Exuberantly fruity – citrus on the nose, darker fruit on the palate – with white chocolate and a linear thread of acidity stitching everything together. Alc 42%

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Described by Courvoisier as ‘daring’, ‘visionary’ and ‘a first-of-its-kind collaboration’, Courvoisier Mizunara was created by the house’s recently-retired maître de chai, Patrice Pinet, and Shinji Fukuyo, chief blender of Japanese whisky maker Suntory.

The project dates back to 2015, when the president of Suntory visited Courvoisier at Jarnac shortly after Suntory took over Beam Global, the Cognac house’s then owner, in a deal worth US$16bn.

Pinet expressed an interest in experimenting with mizunara oak, and shortly afterwards was sent one virgin – meaning not previously used for maturation – 500-litre mizunara oak cask. He filled it with Grande Champagne eaux-de-vie that had already been maturing for more than 10 years in French oak.

‘I have always been intrigued by the scarcity and uniqueness of Japanese mizunara oak,’ said Pinet. ‘I knew the mizunara cask was an unconventional choice for Courvoisier and, together with Shinji, we saw the potential for the notoriously temperamental wood to enhance the unique characteristics of the exceptional Cognac, and complement the maison’s signature floral house style.’

Thibaut Hontanx, who recently took over from Pinet to become Courvoisier’s seventh maître de chai, explained that Pinet had deliberately chosen eaux-de-vie with only a light oak influence to magnify the flavours coming from the mizunara – but initial results were nonetheless disappointing.

‘They were selling these “exotic” flavours, but after six months it was very flat in terms of the aromas,’ Hontanx said. ‘The tannin was tough – there was a bitterness that didn’t want to go away.’

Fukuyo advised Pinet to be patient – ‘Take your time, it will come,’ he said – and gradually, after three years of maturation, the spirit’s character began to change. ‘Now you’ve got something completely different,’ said Hontanx. ‘You’ve got exotic fruit, pineapple, cacao, hazelnut.

‘There are flowers like jasmine and, on the palate, it’s really an explosion of aromas. You can feel the mizunara oak – you can even bite it. It’s very silky, and there’s good length.’

The Cognac was bottled at a higher than normal strength of 48% ABV, Hontanx added, to highlight the aromas coming from the mizunara oak.

Cognac’s strict rules forbid the use of the word ‘finish’ to describe an extra period of maturation in a different cask – as is commonly done in Scotch whisky, for example – and they also only allow Cognac eaux-de-vie to be aged in new oak casks, or oak casks that have previously contained wine, or wine-based products – such as Sauternes or Pineau de Charentes.

Had Courvoisier Mizunara been matured in a cask that had previously contained Japanese whisky, it would have had to be bottled as a brandy or spirit drink – although it could still have used the Courvoisier branding.

Only 500 bottles of Courvoisier Mizunara are available globally, 35 of them in the UK, for sale via retailers including Harrods, Harvey Nichols and The Whisky Exchange, plus select on-trade partners. The RRP is £2,000 for a 70cl bottle.

Courvoisier Mizunara – how does it taste?

On the nose, the fruit is positively exuberant, with juicy plums and black cherries, before slipping into more perfumed territory: candied pineapple, papaya and mango. The palate brings more of the same – just a hint of black banana too – before a powerful, drying spice character emerges, reminiscent of American rye whiskey, with an edge of chilli pepper. Bold by the standards of Courvoisier, and with plenty of grip from the cask.

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• Wartime Cognac

The French shipment of 600 bottles of De Haartman & Co Cognac – plus 15 boxes of Bénédictine liqueur – is believed to have been destined for Tsar Nicholas II, but was intercepted in the Baltic Sea and sunk by a German submarine in May 1917.

Now Cognac house Birkedal Hartmann has refilled 300 of the recovered bottles with Cognac dating from the early 1900s, using packaging identical to the original, and is selling them for €9,000 each.

The wreck of the SS Kyros was discovered by Swedish explorer Peter Lindberg in 1999, but only in 2019 were salvage experts able to finish exploring it fully and recover its cargo, using a specialist salvage vessel, divers and unmanned underwater vehicles (ROVs).

Swedish company Ocean X Team AB and Icelandic business iXplorer used a specially equipped salvage vessel, Deepsea Worker, to explore the wreck in the Gulf of Bothnia, recovering the bottles in late 2019.

According to iXplorer, the salvage process was ‘probably the most complicated recovery work we have ever had to deal with’, thanks to the poor visibility around the wreck, which lies at a depth of 77 metres, and the hazards posed by fishing nets.

Four full bottles of De Haartmann Cognac, which were later auctioned to collectors for US$45,000 each, were recovered along with 300 empty bottles, which had had their corks pushed in by the pressure of the seawater.

‘When the press started calling me about this in 2019, I didn’t know what they were talking about,’ Birkedal Hartmann CEO Kim Birkedal Hartmann told Decanter.com. ‘It was such an incredible story.’

Company archives revealed that ‘De Haartmann’ was a brand name used by Kim Birkedal Hartmann’s great-grandfather, Halfdan Birkedal Hartmann, to ship Cognac to the Russian Imperial Court in St Petersburg via Finland, which was then a province of Russia.

The shipment left Bordeaux in December 1916, but was delayed until the spring due to ice in the Gulf of Bothnia. By the time it set out again, Tsar Nicholas II had stepped down as the Russian Revolution gripped the country.

On 19 May 1917, the SS Kyros was intercepted by German U-boat UC58, skippered by Karl Vesper, who judged that its cargo was military and sank it, after allowing the crew to transfer to another vessel.

Birkedal Hartmann painstakingly cleaned the bottles and removed the corks from inside them, filling them with Grande Champagne Cognac from 1910-15 and using company archives to reproduce the original corks, capsules and labels.

Each one-litre bottle of De Haartmann Cognac comes in a handmade gift box also containing its original cork and a photograph of the SS Kyros.

In January 2020, one of the surviving bottles of Bénédictine was opened and tasted at the Palais Bénédictine in Fécamp, northern France.

According to Bénédictine sales and marketing director Philippe Jouhaud, the liqueur was ‘pleasant’ to taste, with notes of cocoa, coffee and mocha. ‘We have an amazing transformation and evolution of aromas after 100 years, which leads to a pleasant liquor,’ he told Decanter.com.

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A bottle of Cognac belongs in every home bar. Although much Cognac is sipped and savoured neat, it also forms the base of several classic cocktails and can be enjoyed with mixers such as ginger ale or soda in a long serve over ice.

But which Cognac should you choose? The Cognac region of western France is a large and diverse area, with 78,000ha of vineyards. Most are planted with Ugni Blanc, a white grape that gives light, acidic wines, which are distilled to produce a fruity spirit. This spirit is then matured in French oak barrels to create the finished Cognac.

The amount of time spent in barrel defines the style of a Cognac. A VS will spend at least two years in oak; VSOP is aged for four years; and XO for 10 years. Above these classifications, the finest blends and vintage Cognacs can be aged for many decades.

These older Cognacs have more complex flavours and also come with a higher price tag. So for that reason younger Cognacs – VS and VSOP – are generally considered a better choice for cocktails.

In addition, some Cognac houses have produced blends that are specifically created for use in cocktails, such as H by Hine and Frapin 1270 (see below). These Cognacs may not have the traditional age categories on their labels.

Classic Cognac Cocktails

Several Cognac serves date back to the golden age of cocktails and are rightly considered classics. These include The Sidecar, a light and fruity mix of Cognac, lemon juice and triple sec, which is served straight up in a Martini glass or coupe. Named after the motorcycle attachment, the recipe first appeared in bartender Harry McElhone’s book ABC of Cocktails, published in 1919, though it’s not entirely clear if McElhone actually invented the recipe.

Then there’s the Vieux Carré, created in the 1930s by Walter Bergeron at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans. The name translates as ‘old square’ and refers to the city’s iconic French Quarter. To make a Vieux Carré combine 30ml of Cognac with 30ml of rye whiskey, 30ml of sweet vermouth, 5ml Bénédictine DOM liqueur and two dashes each of Angostura Bitters and Peychaud’s Bitters. Stir in a mixing glass over ice, then strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a cocktail cherry and lemon peel.

Perfect for celebrations, the Champagne Cocktail is a sparkling cocktail served in a chilled flute glass. Although the exact origins of this mix are lost in the mists of time, it appears in cocktail books from the second half of the 19th century onwards. To make a Champagne Cocktail, coat a sugar cube with three dashes of Angostura Bitters, and drop it in the bottom of the glass. Pour over 30ml of Cognac, then top with Champagne.

In the mix

Alongside recipes created specifically for Cognac, it can also be used in cocktails as a substitute for other dark spirits such as whisky and rum. If you love Cognac and fancy experimenting with twists on other cocktails, try using it in an Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Sazerac or a Mint Julep.

You can also pair Cognac with a variety of mixers in a long serve over ice. Try a simple Cognac Highball made from 50ml Cognac topped with soda water. The Horse’s Neck is a refreshing combination of 50ml Cognac, topped with ginger ale and two dashes of Angostura Bitters. The drink takes its name from the long spiral of lemon peel used as a garnish.

Here are some Cognacs that are perfect for mixing to get you started…

Best Cognacs for Cocktails

Tasting notes by Julie Sheppard, Laura Foster and Richard Woodard

Courvoisier VSOP Exclusif

Developed especially for use in cocktails, VSOP Exclusif is made with eaux-de-vie from the four top growing regions in Cognac: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies and Fins Bois. A smooth Cognac boasting sweet flavours of apricot, plum, caramel and cocoa, mingling with ginger, cinnamon and vanilla spice. Great in a Sidecar. Alc 40%

Frapin 1270

Named after the year the Frapin family settled in southwest France, first as wine growers and then as distillers, Frapin 1270 is a VS Cognac that’s intended for cocktails. Made with grapes grown exclusively in Grande Champagne, it boasts a floral nose with accompanying aromas of leather. A palate of orchard fruit, caramel, cinnamon and dried fruits is rounded off with dry, toasty spice. Try it in a Vieux Carré. Alc 40%

H by Hine

Made with grapes grown in the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne regions, H by Hine is another Cognac that has been blended specifically for mixing cocktails and is praised by bartenders for its versatility. Appealing floral notes of jasmine and iris sit atop a body of butterscotch, caramel and vanilla. Chopped almonds, hazelnuts, black pepper and ginger spice come in on the finish. Alc 40%

Hennessy VS

One of the ‘big four’ Cognac houses (along with Rémy Martin, Courvoisier and Martell), Hennessy is the best-selling Cognac brand globally and its popular VS expression is used in cocktails by bartenders around the world. A blend of around 40 different eaux-de-vie, it offers aromas of spicy oak and nutty caramel on the nose. More woody notes on the palate, plus vanilla spice, a fruity character and a waft of florality. Alc 40%

Martell VSOP

Aged for a minimum of four years, VSOP Cognacs are great all-rounders – perfect for mixing and cocktails, but smooth enough to sip neat as well. Martell is known for its linear, fruit-forward style, and this example combines a basket of tropical fruits with spice and tannin from quite forward oak. Alc 40%

Merlet Brothers Blend

A family-owned house that can trace its Cognac-making history back to 1850, Merlet’s Brothers Blend is a contemporary Cognac created by current family head Gilles Merlet for his sons Luc and Pierre. Made with eaux-de-vie that’s at least four years old, it’s a soft, approachable Cognac full of stone fruit, jasmine, leather and vanilla notes, with a touch of cracked pepper. Alc 40%

Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal

Made by one of the ‘Big Four’ Cognac houses, the name celebrates a royal warrant that King Louis XV gave to Rémy Martin to plant a new vineyard in 1738. A good choice for a classic Champagne Cocktail, this Cognac is rich, smooth and full-bodied, with fruitcake aromas leading onto a pleasing palate of date sponge and toffee sauce, crystalised ginger, cinnamon, dark chocolate and leather. Alc 40%

Seignette VS

The original Seignette Cognac house was founded in 1804 by Arzac Seignette. This contemporary homage to the label is produced by American distiller Sazerac, which also owns Sazerac de Forge & Fils Cognac and Domaine Breuil de Segonzac Cognac house. A light VS style with plenty of spice notes on the nose and palate. Pleasantly fruity and smooth, with flavours of dried apricot, candied peel and crystallised ginger, plus creamy vanilla and spicy oak that linger on the finish. Versatile and a good value option for mixing in cocktails. Alc 40% 

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The launch of the 2022 Collection takes the total number of Last Drop releases to 27 since the company was founded by drinks industry veterans Tom Jago and James Espey in 2008. Tom’s daughter Rebecca Jago is now the company’s MD.

This year’s releases include The Last Drop’s first Japanese whisky: a blended malt that includes whisky from the fabled Hanyu distillery, taken from the beginning and end of its brief lifespan (1980-2000), as well as malts from other unidentified Japanese distilleries.

Married in an ex-sherry cask and bottled at 60% abv, there are 177 bottles of The Last Drop 20 Year Old Japanese Blended Malt Whisky available globally, priced at £4,200 per bottle.

This year’s second release, The Last Drop Hors d’Age Petite Champagne Cognac (70 Years Old) was distilled in 1950 at a family domaine in a tiny enclave of the Petite Champagne cru just north of the Charente river at Bourg-Charente – bounded by the river and the much larger Fins Bois cru.

The spirit was distilled in a small wood-fired still – as was normal in those times for smaller producers – producing a different character of spirit thanks to the ratio of copper to spirit, and the fluctuating temperatures brought by wood firing (when compared to gas or oil).

It was matured in a relatively cool, damp cellar in smaller used casks – imparting little wood influence – and was acquired by The Last Drop while still in cask in 2021, before being bottled at 45% abv. There are 375 bottles available, priced at £3,250 each.

The Last Drop’s final 2022 release is a 44-year-old single malt from the Glenturret distillery in Perthshire, famed for its small size and traditional ‘farm distillery’ practices.

During its chequered history, Glenturret was dismantled in the late 1920s before being resurrected – using equipment from the nearby Tullibardine distillery – by James Fairley in 1960. Fairley was still running the distillery when this whisky was distilled in 1977.

It was matured entirely in an ex-Sherry cask, but one that has exerted only a gentle influence. ‘What I hope you’ll find is the vitality and sparkle that we look for [in our releases],’ said Nick Morton, COO of The Last Drop Distillers. ‘When it comes to age, if it doesn’t add anything, or enhance, it’s just a number on a bottle.’

Bottled at 45% abv, there are 168 bottles of The Last Drop 1977 Glenturret Single Malt Scotch Whisky (44 Years Old) available globally, priced at £4,500.

The new releases represent a fresh beginning for The Last Drop, which has been owned by US spirits company Sazerac since 2016, with the introduction of new branding and packaging, comprising clear glass bottles suspended in oak cases.

Rebecca Jago said that the first 24 Last Drop releases were now referred to as “The Founders’ Collection” – referring to Tom Jago and James Espey – but said the ethos of the company had not changed with this year’s range.

‘They reflect very much the principles with which they started the business: finding extraordinary spirits and putting them into bottles,’ she said. ‘Still today what really matters is the liquid in the bottle.’

The Last Drop has also launched a new podcast series, The Remarkable, hosted by Rebecca Jago and featuring guests including polar explorer and TED speaker Ben Saunders. The monthly podcasts are available from the company website and podcast platforms.

TASTING NOTES

The Last Drop 2022 Collection

Release No. 25: The Last Drop 20 Year Old Japanese Blended Malt Whisky

(60% abv, 177 bottles, £4,200/bottle)

This whisky is all about fragrance and delicacy, from its perfumed exotic fruits to more elusive scents of jasmine and green tea. The warm apricot and peach notes eventually give way to leaner green apple, accompanied by vanilla cream. There’s great breadth and texture in the mouth, and it wears its considerable strength lightly. Restrained and elegant.

Release No. 26: The Last Drop Hors d’Age Petite Champagne Cognac (70 Years Old)

(45% abv, 375 bottles, £3,250/bottle)

In some ways similar to the Japanese blended malt, this is ethereal and fresh, with surprisingly little cask influence. First come pungent floral notes and pot-pourri, then bright, expressive tangerine zest. Initially all soft gentility, it builds in the mouth to reveal richer flavours of sandalwood and nutmeg, before subsiding into grape flower and light fudge.

Release No. 27: The Last Drop 1977 Glenturret Single Malt Scotch Whisky (44 Years Old)

(45% abv, 168 bottles, £4,500/bottle)

Fruit leaps from the glass – intense, juicy, tropical notes of papaya and mango – then things calm down a little, revealing lighter hints of green apple and grape skin. Surprisingly sweet on the palate as the fruits darken, and then a nutty sherried character emerges alongside the unmistakable rancio tang that denotes long age.

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The liqueur – famed for its use in making Crêpes Suzettes, but also a classic cocktail ingredient – has created a new Exceptional Range, beginning with the launch of Grand Marnier Quintessence.

Quintessence combines rare old hors d’âge Cognacs from the Grande Champagne sub-region with the essence of bitter Citrus bigaradia (Seville orange) peels, double-distilled to intensify their flavour.

The blend was taken from an old recipe found in the Marnier Lapostolle family archives by Grand Marnier master blender Patrick Raguenaud, and is said to be ‘rich, smooth … with dry fruit facets of apricot and walnut, underlined by a warm, dark vanilla base’.

Priced at £2,200, it comes in a mouthblown Baccarat crystal decanter inspired by the original Grand Marnier bottle, with 1,000 decanters available this year, only 12 of them in the UK.

‘It’s a rare experience to drink this; even to imagine this kind of Cognac is rare,’ said Raguenaud. ‘The sensation, the feeling, the perception of what you smell, it is unforgettable.’

Grand Marnier is also set to launch Grand Marnier Révélation, said to be a more ‘Cognac-forward’ expression combining XXO Cognacs from Grande Champagne with Citrus bigaradia essence and rested in oak tanks for several months prior to bottling.

Révélation uses ‘only a dash’ of orange essence, which is said to curb Grand Marnier’s usual sweetness and highlight classic Cognac flavours of vanilla, fresh florals and almond, alongside dried apricot.

Révélation will retail for £650, with only 23 bottles available in the UK.

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Cognac: essence of place

Cognac is widely acknowledged to be the world’s greatest brandy and, like a fine wine, it owes that status to the land it calls home, the legally protected Cognac region of western France.

This large and diverse area has 78,000ha of vineyards, most of them planted with Ugni Blanc (or Trebbiano) , a white grape that produces light, acidic wines perfectly suited to distillation. The finest and longest-aged Cognacs are sourced from the spongy chalk soils of the Grande Champagne zone just south of the Charente river, as well as quality locations in nearby Petite Champagne and Borderies.

Distillation turns wine into a fruity spirit that’s ready for maturation in French oak barrels. The amount of time spent in barrels defines the style of the Cognac: at least two years for VS, four for VSOP, 10 for XO – and many decades for the finest blends and vintages.

All of these factors conspire to create a spirit of great versatility, whether your taste is for a refreshing mixed drink with ice and soda or a classic cocktail such as the Sidecar. Or maybe you’re looking for a complex brandy to sip and savour.

Here’s a selection to launch you on your Cognac voyage of discovery…

Best Cognacs for beginners

Augier L’Océanique

A left-field Cognac sourced from a single harvest on the Atlantic Ile d’Oléron, this has a relatively youthful, lightly floral character with zesty grapefruit notes – and its intriguing maritime edge might endear it to Cognac-phobic whisky lovers. The Augier name has a long history in Cognac, and was revived several years ago by the owner of Martell. Alcohol 40.1%

Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2008

Hine is one of several specialists in vintage Cognacs – produced, as the name suggests, from a single harvest. This is an unusually light example sourced from the company’s own Grande Champagne vineyards and bottled in 2018. Expressive and delicately vinous, with lots of floral character, red fruit and honeyed oak. Alc 42.7%

Frapin 1270

VS Cognacs are the starting-point, and they’re best consumed mixed and in cocktails like the Sidecar or the Vieux Carré. A rare example from Grande Champagne, this is unusually aromatic and supple, thanks to distillation on the lees and a gentle touch in the cellar. Why 1270? That’s the year when the Frapin family started growing grapes in the region. Alc 40%

Guillon-Painturaud Réserve Single Estate

Cognac is dominated by four big companies (Courvoisier, Hennessy, Rémy Martin and Martell) but you have to delve deeper to fully appreciate the region’s diversity. This superb example from an excellent family producer in Grande Champagne has spent 10 years in cask, accumulating a nicely balanced mix of floral notes, soft vanilla and light ginger, with citrus emerging on the finish. Alc 40%

Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise Crystal Decanter

David Baker of Hermitage Cognacs has spent decades unearthing hidden Cognac gems, and this is one of his greatest finds. Now about 70 years old, it has an astonishingly velvety texture, and you could write a book about the complex, lingering flavours on show here. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely (and it is a one-litre decanter). Alc 43%

Jean Fillioux Réserve Familiale

The Fillioux family has historic links to the dynasty of Hennessy master blenders, but there the similarities end. A classic Grande Champagne Cognac of great age sourced from the family domaine, this has all the hallmarks of jasmine, orange blossom and tangerine peel, silkily leading into walnut, mocha and cigar leaf. Alc 40%

Martell VSOP

Aged for a minimum of four years, VSOP Cognacs are great all-rounders – perfect for mixing and cocktails, but smooth enough to sip neat as well. Martell is known for its linear, fruit-forward style, and this example combines a basket of tropical fruits with spice and tannin from quite forward oak. Alc 40%

Rémy Martin XO

Another of the four big houses, Rémy Martin specialises in producing Cognacs at VSOP level and above, sourcing its grapes from Grande and Petite Champagne. This XO epitomises its signature style of supple smoothness – rich with aromas of date, cinnamon and nutmeg, reinforced by tannin from the oak and lifted by just the merest pinch of anise. A benchmark XO. Alc 40%

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Cognac: Ageing gracefully

Cognac Frapin’s fifth Cuvée Rabelais release is both a blend of some of the house’s oldest eaux-de-vie and a celebration of its historic link with 16th-century humanist and writer François Rabelais. It seems apt to connect an illustrious maker of Grande Champagne Cognacs with a famed bon viveur – and one known for his earthy sense of humour. Indeed the Rabelais link is proudly featured on every Frapin bottle, in the shape of the house emblem of a ‘plume’ or writer’s quill.

Rabelais’ mother was Anne-Catherine Frapin, but the year of his birth has always been debated; once thought to have been 1483, but now more likely to have been 1494, according to scholarly consensus. That gave Frapin two opportunities to celebrate the great thinker’s 500th birthday, releasing the first and second Cuvée Rabelais in 1983 and 1994 respectively. As such, the name given to the latter – Age Inconnu – could be said to have a double meaning.

There were two more post-millennium releases – a Baccarat carafe in the shape of a (functioning) pocket watch in 2002 and, four years later, Cuvée 1888, created by then cellar master, Olivier Paultes, from a blend selected by Pierre Frapin in that year.

Latest release

The fifth Cuvée Rabelais is limited to 500 bottles, priced at £9,000. It is packaged in a teardrop-shaped, flask-like crystal and gold decanter made by hand at the Saint-Louis cristallerie in northern France. It’s also the first blended by current Frapin cellar master Patrice Piveteau, however there’s only so much that he can reveal about the assemblage.

‘It’s a very old one,’ he says. ‘But for me it’s very difficult to speak about the age, because I have no traceability and I can’t prove the origin.’ What do we know about this Cognac? One part of the blend comes from the Paradis – the cellar housing Frapin’s oldest and most prized casks, where the eaux-de-vie are at least 60 years old. Another part was taken from the glass dames-jeannes, containing eaux-de-vie taken out of cask at the peak of their maturity, generally 60-90 years old.

Beyond that, Piveteau has his suspicions. He reckons there’s a different grape variety involved: not today’s almost ubiquitous Ugni Blanc, but probably Folle Blanche, the most planted pre-phylloxera variety for Cognac. But that’s only part of the picture.

‘The vine growing one century ago was not the same as today,’ he points out. ‘The pot stills were probably smaller, and they used wood or coal, not gas. It’s very old, but it’s also impossible to produce this Cognac again even if we wanted to.’

And the aim of Cuvée Rabelais? ‘It’s very old, but without too much wood,’ says Piveteau, who has tried to bring energy and tension alongside great age. ‘With old Cognacs, too often it’s heavy… This Cognac is the process of generations. It has to be something that gives an idea of time.’

Cuvée Rabelais: how does it taste?

Expressive tropical fruit, tangerine peel, evolving into dried apricot. A lot of energy and vibrancy for such an old Cognac, with beeswax and dark honey emerging on the palate, where the richness and structure become apparent. Stewed plums, then prune and liquorice, before classic rancio notes of pickled walnut and tobacco leaf. Powerful, elegant and highly complex.

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Inside the January 2022 issue of Decanter Magazine:

FEATURES:

• Aperitifs: how to do them well The art of starting it right, with drinks tips from Kate Hawkings
• Vintage preview: Chablis 2020 Andy Howard MW picks 33 of his top wines from a classic year in the region
• Producer profile: Château Angélus Jane Anson visits one of St-Emilion’s four finest grand cru classé estates
• Bordeaux & Burgundy vintages for Christmas Panos Kakaviatos & Charles Curtis MW select the perfect vintages and appellations for the big day
• And much more…

LEARNING

• Wine wisdom Expert tips to help you explore the fascinating world of wine

Read the new issue in full on the Decanter Premium app

Unlimited reviews | Exclusive articles | Recommendations | Priority booking | No ads

SPIRITS

• Distilled Spirits insights and cocktail recipes – plus five top Christmas gins
• Spirits: Whisky buyer’s guide The best drams out there, by Richard Woodard

GOOD LIVING

• Perfect pairing Three whites, seven reds: Fiona Beckett’s top 10 tips for wines to match your turkey feast
• Travel: Scandinavia Culinary-scene temptations in three major capitals, in the company of Åsa Johansson

BUYING GUIDE

• Panel tasting: vintage Champagne Unarguable quality: 93 wines, seven Outstanding, 64 Highly recommended
• Expert’s Choice: Sancerre & Pouilly Fumé alternatives Andy Howard MW’s top 18 Sauvignon Blancs to try
• Seasonal buys 34 top picks under £20 to grace your festive table, chosen by the Decanter team
• Festive treats 16 brilliant buys between £20 and £50 – perfect for impressing your guests
• and much more…

COLLECTORS

• Marketwatch investment news What’s making waves in the market
• Marketwatch spotlight on Italy

REGULARS

• Meet the experts Decanter’s authors
• Uncorked News, views and more
• It’s a wrap! Gift Guide A Decanter compendium of 20 great gifts for wine lovers
• Your letters
• Andrew Jefford’s column A tough 2021 for the world’s winemakers
• Guest column: Chris Losh On the reality of Christmas drinks planning
• DWWA highlights Discover 19 award-winning Shiraz reds from around Australia’s states and regions
• Wine to 5: Stéphane Derenoncourt Life as a top winemaking consultant

Includes the Decanter Rioja Guide 2022:

A glimpse into our exclusive guide to all things Rioja, guest-edited by Sarah Jane Evans MW and Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW.

Main features include:

• What’s hot in Rioja A complex region of many facets, Rioja is undergoing dynamic change, says Sarah Jane Evans MW, bringing benefits to wine lovers
• Grape focus: Garnacha No longer consigned to being a mere blending ingredient, this variety is deservedly making waves, says Amaya Cervera
• Who’s who in Rioja Meet a selection of the region’s most important influencers – from winemakers to restaurateurs to academics
• Reviving Rioja’s old vine heritage Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW gives his passionate backing to measures to protect vineyards with a history
• White Rioja: my top 20 Sarah Jane Evans MW’s selection of favourite barrel-aged Rioja dry whites
• Panel tasting: Viñedo Singular The first Decanter tasting of this new category showed excellent results, with all wines scoring 90pts or more
• Travel: a weekend in Rioja Yolanda Ortiz de Arri Izarra takes a scenic tour through hilltop villages, ancient caves and bodegas doubling as architectural masterpieces
• Rioja as an investment As the market for fine Rioja takes off, Jochen de Vylder investigates the wineries and vintages you should keep an eye on
• Vintage guide: drink or keep? Our Rioja drinkability guide, back to 2000
• And more…

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Cognac was made by the blenders. Through their international connections and commercial nous, the merchants created a global powerhouse that remains dominated by their family names to this day: Jas Hennessy, Jean Martell, Rémy Martin, Emmanuel Courvoisier.

Brand power has been the key to Cognac’s success, but has something been lost along the way? At a time when we yearn to know more about where our food and drink comes from, and how it is made, might VSOP and XO blends appear anonymous – soulless even? But not all Cognacs are made this way. For a number of quality-focused houses, the land is absolutely central to what they do.

Scroll down for Woodard’s tasting notes for eight terroir-driven Cognacs to try

Nowhere is this more obvious than at Frapin, which produces all its Cognacs from its own vines, and doesn’t make anything for anyone else. Frapin’s Château de Fontpinot property, with its 240ha of vineyards, sits in the lap of the Grande Champagne ‘cru’ sub-region, where the sponge-like chalk soils allow the vines to delve down 10m in search of water and nutrients.

The house’s Château Fontpinot XO and its vintage bottlings epitomise this approach, with all the processes taking place on the property, from picking the grapes to bottling the mature Cognacs, which combine extraordinary finesse with understated power. Look out for the imminent release of a Frapin 1989 vintage, aged for 30 years, as well as the ultra-high-end Cuvée Rabelais, which is blended from the oldest eaux-de-vie [individual distilled spirits] in Frapin’s ‘paradis’ cellars.

At first glance, Delamain’s provenance credentials may appear dubious. This is the quintessential négociant, blending and bottling eaux-de-vie, with no vineyards of its own. But that wasn’t always the case: the family only left farming behind in 1910.

Now, more than a century later, it has returned to manage 20ha of vines at Bellevigne in Grande Champagne. And Delamain has cemented this renewed focus on the land with its Pléiade Collection: annual releases of single-cask, often single-vineyard Cognacs bearing the names of hamlets and communes – Bonneuil, Ambleville, Bouteville – that may not be familiar now, but could one day be as well-known as Ambonnay or Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in Champagne.

Picturesque Bonneuil, with its rolling, chalk-flecked rows of vines, has already edged into the spotlight, thanks to Hine. The Domaines Hine bottlings from its 80ha estate in Bonneuil are an exercise in the exposition of terroir through Cognac: single-vintage, aged for less than a decade, with a light touch in the cellar allowing the distillate to shine.

‘We want to show what the vineyard does in any year – really closer to wine than to the conventional idea of Cognac,’ says cellar master Eric Forget. These elegant, delicate Cognacs show all the floral tension of Grande Champagne.

Regional diversity

Others have foregone Cognac’s heartland to explore the region’s huge diversity: Camus is the largest landowner in the tiny Borderies enclave, and has made a speciality of its Borderies VSOP and XO bottlings. The house has also tapped Cognac’s extremes, from the maritime-influenced vineyards on the Atlantic-lapped Ile de Ré island, to the warmer Dordogne for its Saint-Aulaye and Return to Saint-Aulaye bottlings, vintage Cognacs created from Colombard grapes.

These products are relatively rare – the Camus Saint-Aulaye releases were only 3,000 bottles each, for example – and, although they shine a light on the diverse terroir of the Cognac region, it’s important to remember that they remain exceptions to the rule of blending here.

‘Single vineyards, single years, single casks are all growing in popularity, which sits in opposition to the blending tradition, but these opportunities only really exist at the upper end of what nature can offer,’ points out Charles Braastad, Delamain managing director.

‘An eau-de-vie must be innately a quite extraordinary thing to reach beyond its possibilities as part of a blend and merit decades of standalone treatment from a cellar master.’

Terroir focus

It would also be unfair to accuse the big houses of entirely ignoring where their Cognacs come from. Martell has long been a huge fan of Borderies – showcasing the cruinits CordonBleu expression especially. Meanwhile, the house’s recently launched Dame-Jeanne Collection included a 1971 vintage from Fins Bois, which is not an area generally synonymous with long ageing and the highest quality.

‘All terroirs can produce exceptional Cognacs,’ explains Martell cellar master Christophe Valtaud, highlighting three key factors: the location and soil; the climate of a particular year; and the knowhow of the farmer, distiller, cooper and cellar master. ‘The 1971 Martell Cognac from the Dame-Jeanne Collection is a perfect example of this quest for excellence, where the combination of these three elements makes the eau-de-vie so special.’

Meanwhile, Hennessy master blender Renaud Fillioux de Gironde is responsible for making the world’s best-selling Cognac. ‘You could think that this importance of provenance is therefore less,’ he says. ‘In fact, it’s the opposite: we taste more than 10,000 samples every year to assess the quality of each batch.

‘We follow the quality achieved by each grape-grower. We know them, where they are, how they work. We work constantly with them to improve our ability to get the best from the potential of their vineyards.

‘As the master blender,’ Fillioux de Gironde adds, ‘my job is then to put together the eaux-de-vie to get the best blend possible. At Hennessy, for Cognac-making, “provenance” is not a destination, but part of the journey.’

Cognacs with a sense of place: eight to try

Camus Single Estate Borderies VSOP

From the smallest Cognac cru comes this lovely example of its signature style, with plenty of restraint but charming perfumed fruit and a floral undertone, backed up by vanilla and spice. Alcohol 40%

Delamain Pléiade, Collection Révélation, Bonneuil

This is a very different Bonneuil Cognac to the Domaines Hine example: long-aged, with scents of vine flowers, some almost confected fruit – sweet cherry to the fore – and alluring notes of nutmeg and cinnamon. Alc 45%

Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2010

The fourth Hine Bonneuil release, this shows the development of the concept with a perfectly balanced, elegant and fruit- forward expression of the excellent 2010 harvest, with light spice from the oak and a nip of menthol. Alc 42.1%

Frapin Château Fontpinot XO

Frapin always treads a fine line between elegance, complexity and structure – and this benchmark expression is the perfect example. Hedgerow florals, creamy vanilla and an edge of spice and tannin from the cask. Alc 41%

Guillon-Painturaud Hors d’Age

This is a reliable, historic house (the Pineau is also superb) with formidable aged stocks and 18ha of prime Grande Champagne vineyards, put to good use here with a medium-weight, power- meets-finesse Cognac that’s seen about 30 summers. Alc 40%

Hennessy XO

The original XO, this is a Cognac in a traditional style – rich and decadent, with powerful cask influence – and which epitomises the art of blending: combining a bewildering array of eaux-de-vie to make them sing. Alc 40%

Martell Cordon Bleu 

Of all of Martell’s Cognacs, Cordon Bleu brings the qualities of the Borderies cru to the fore, with its characteristic elegance overlaid onto seductive orchard fruits and sumptuous spiced vanilla. Alc 40%

Pierre Ferrand Sélection des Anges

From one of the most forward-thinking of Grande Champagne houses, decades in cask have left a velvet, seamless Cognac that melds dried flowers, plummy fruit, walnuts and dark honey. Alc 41.8%

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It’s all too easy to rhapsodise about the quality and complexity of the classic XO (Extra Old) and Hors d’Age Cognac expressions. This is conveniently forgetting that roughly two-thirds of the Cognac consumed on the planet is from the VS (Very Special) and VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) classifications.

VSOP Cognacs, which have to be aged in cask for at least four years, are the great all-rounders. They are affordable in price and – in the best examples – offer a tantalising glimpse of the complexity and quality that only emerges when eaux-de-vie are allowed to age.

You can mix VSOP Cognacs – indeed, some are expressly formulated for that purpose. They will be great in a Sidecar cocktail or a Gallic take on an Old Fashioned, substituting whiskey with Cognac. For a longer serve top up 50ml of VSOP Cognac with ginger ale, plus lots of ice and a wedge of lime in a highball glass.

But we’re also entering after-dinner territory here in terms of richness and breadth. Just don’t pour any of these into one of those abominable, balloon-shaped snifter glasses. A stemmed, tulip-shaped glass is the best drinking vessel for VSOP.

VSOP Cognacs to try

Bisquit & Dubouché VSOP

Until recently just known as Bisquit, this Cognac house has regained its historic name and relaunched its range, including this VSOP, which combines eaux-de-vie sourced from Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Fins Bois and Bons Bois. Supple, rounded and fruity, with dry spice from the oak and an appealingly honeyed texture. Alcohol 40%

Camus VSOP Borderies

Borderies is the smallest of the Cognac crus, but prized by the likes of Martell and Camus – the largest vineyard owner here – for its perfumed fruit and restrained floral notes. It may not have the longevity of Grande Champagne, but it’s got bags of charm, as well as vanilla and spice from toasty oak. Alc 40%

Courvoisier VSOP Exclusif

It’s about 15 years since this pioneering ‘mixable’ VSOP was launched as a blend deliberately targeted at the cocktail market, and it remains an ultra-smooth expression of Fins Bois and Borderies, plus Grande and Petite Champagne. Expect light baking spices behind plump, plummy fruit and darker notes of roasted coffee. Alc 40%

Frapin VSOP

This is Grande Champagne in a glass, true to the Frapin style of allowing the distillate to sing with the oak in the background: heady floral notes of vine flower and rose water, a warm citrus character and evolved notes of walnut and vanilla. Elegance and balance dominate the finish, alongside scented aromas of pot-pourri. Alc 40%

Hardy VSOP

The nose here suggests lightness and elegance, with orchard fruits and pear in particular. But there’s also plenty of structure on the palate, including satisfying notes of hazelnut, ginger snaps and a backbone from the wood tannins. Stewed fruits and cinnamon give a touch of summer pudding to this nicely balanced VSOP. Alc 40%

Hine Rare VSOP

Hine has long been a Cognac for wine lovers, and never more obviously than in this Fine Champagne blend, which means a combination of fruit from Grande and Petite Champagne, with Grande Champagne in the majority. Jasmine, honeysuckle, a basket of juicy tropical fruit, plus creamy vanilla. An old favourite – and a true classic. Alc 40%

Maxime Trijol VSOP

Maxime Trijol’s Grande Champagne Cognacs are consistently excellent (check out the XO and a superb array of vintages). But lovers of the house always return to this benchmark VSOP, which has everything you want. It’s as fragrant as an upmarket florist’s, but perfectly in balance with oak-driven notes of vanilla and baking spices. Alc 40%

Rémy Martin VSOP

Nearly a century after its creation, this classic VSOP continues to bridge the gap between elegance and power, combining roasted apricot and stewed apple with a vanilla-accented backbone from maturation in Limousin oak. Rounded, silkily textured and medium-bodied, it’s equally at home neat or as a base for classic cocktails. Alc 40%

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More than half of all the Cognac sold in the world is labelled as VS (Very Special). It is the region’s youngest age classification and refers to Cognacs that must have been matured in oak for a minimum of two years.

These are typically mixable spirits, and it’s worth remembering that much more Cognac is drunk mixed than neat, whether in cocktails or refreshing long drinks with ginger ale, tonic, iced tea, or – to make purists shudder – Coca-Cola.

But don’t be dismissive of VS, because creating a winning blend from multiple young eaux-de-vie is a delicate art. It’s one that the cellar master can’t afford to get wrong, because these are the best-selling products that he or she will ever make.

What’s more, the best examples are perfectly enjoyable to drink neat. They also provide a great way to introduce someone to the world of Cognac, without breaking the bank.

Best VS Cognacs to try

Camus VS Elegance

A serial award winner, this is uncommonly elegant and floral for a VS-grade Cognac, thanks to distillation on the lees and careful maturation in fine-grained oak. It’s versatile, and a great way to get to know the signature Camus style, which has evolved to become even more aromatic in recent years. Alcohol 40%

Château de Montifaud VS

Owned by the Vallet family, Montifaud is a great exponent of Petite Champagne Cognacs, which share many of the characteristics of Grande Champagne, but can be a little less austere and more approachable when young. This is supple and fresh, with leaner orchard fruits and more complexity than is the norm among VS Cognacs. Alc 40%

Courvoisier VS

Perhaps the least famous of the ‘big four’ Cognac houses around the world, Courvoisier more than makes up for this with a consistently harmonious range of Cognacs, starting here: eaux-de-vie from Fins Bois for floral fruitiness and Petite Champagne to provide structure. Well-integrated oak provides a touch of allspice. Alc 40%

Frapin 1270

The youngest member of the Frapin family in every sense – this was only launched in 2018 – 1270 is named after the year the family started growing grapes in the region. It has the classic house characteristic of floral, fruity elegance, in a simple style that’s highly mixable, but perfectly good neat too. Grande Champagne VS can sometimes lack generosity, but distillation on the lees keeps this super-fragrant and charming. Alc 40%

François Voyer VS

Another Grande Champagne VS, from a producer whose Cognacs are found in many top restaurants in France. There’s more richness here, in the shape of beguiling tropical fruits and a creamy, vanilla-spiked texture from maturation in virgin Limousin oak casks. Extremely smooth and well-mannered. Alc 40%

Hennessy VS

This is the world’s best-selling Cognac, and by some distance. It’s everything you’d expect from the Hennessy house style, with robust, spicy, nutty oak providing plenty of structure behind aromas of green grape skin and light citrus. A blend of 40 eaux-de-vie from every Cognac cru, it’s a mixable map of the region. Alc 40%

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula

Located just a few miles outside the town of Cognac, Ferrand is a forward-looking Cognac house under the loquacious leadership of Alexandre Gabriel. This is a nicely poised VS, with aromas of jasmine blossom, ripe grapes and some fine oak tannin, all held together by a honeyed texture. Alc 45%

Ragnaud Sabourin No 4 VS

If you know someone who thinks all VS Cognac is harsh firewater, give them this. It embodies its Grande Champagne origins, with lifted aromas of honeysuckle and orange blossom. On the palate, a creamy texture and fleshy fruit are undercut by notes of menthol and caramel.

Alc 41%

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Grappa is a fragrant Italian spirit made from the grape solids left over from wine production, known as marc or pomace. There are about 130 distillers making grappa, primarily in the north – the Veneto region is the heartland of grappa production.

Traditionally consumed as a young white spirit, quality has improved drastically in recent decades. Today’s examples are characterful and represent a wide variety of styles. To reflect this, there are nine IGTs for grappa, as well as regulated age designations: affinata, which spends a maximum of 12 months in barrel; invecchiata or vecchia, aged for 12-18 months in barrel; and stravecchia or riserva, with a minimum of 18 months in barrel.

The traditional Venetian way to enjoy grappa is known as resentin (‘rinsed’): a late-morning pick-me-up or post-prandial of a few drops of grappa sloshed around an almost-drained espresso cup. More complex, wood-aged examples call for sipping on their own or even with a cigar.

Grappa 101:

Grappa is made from the grape solids left over from wine production. Known as ‘marc’ or ‘pomace’, it must contain alcohol before it can be successfully distilled. Marc that doesn’t contain alcohol – for example white grape skins that were not fermented with the juice – is known as ‘virgin marc’ and must be fermented separately.

There are around 130 Grappa distillers in Italy.

There are nine IGTs which identify Grappas with a particular geographic and organoleptic profile. Eight of the nine IGTs are in the north of the country, including Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Valle d’Aosta.

Grappa must be a minimum of 37.5% abv, or 40% in the case of IGT Grappas.

Best Grappa to try:

Antinori Tignanello Grappa

An assemblage of marcs from the best lots of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese grown in the famous Tignanello vineyard in Tuscany. Grape, pear and cream aromas are lifted by a hint of ripe raspberry. The intense, robust palate features some peachy, floral notes expanding from a lightly nutty, grapey core, with licks of red fruit. A very long, delicious finish of subtle red fruits and cream. Alcohol 42%

Cocchi Bianca Grappa

This white Grappa has a grapey aroma with hints of seawater and cream. The palate has a citrus, floral character. As on the nose it’s quite grapey in the mouth, with a sweet, creamy finish and a hint of peach. Alc 40%

Cocchi Dorée Grappa

Cocchi, based in Asti, Piedmont, produces a range of vermouths, wines and grappas. This grappa is made from Moscato from a single vineyard and aged for at least three years in oak barrels. It has a lovely peachy, yellow fruit nose with medicinal and wood-polish hints. Resinous, piney and creamy, the palate features intense, sweet yellow fruits with a finish of peach skin, nuts and pear. Smooth and vibrant. Alc 40%

Cocchi Grappa di Altalanga

From the marc of grapes grown within the Alta Langa DOCG, this has nutty, spicy scents and some floral notes along with gentle pear and grape. Rich and creamy yet fragrant, it has flavours of vanilla, bright pear, apple, peach skin, melon, lemon and a touch of straw. Peppery finish. Alc 42%

Loredan Gasparini Capo di Stato Grappa

This white grappa is made from the marc left after the fermentation of the estate’s flagship red wine, Capo di Stato – a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Distillation takes place in a small copper bain-marie still. Aromatic and floral, it displays scents of black tea, black and white pepper, grape and peach skin. Spicy, herbal and complex in the mouth, a subtle, sweet line of cherry runs through the centre, surrounded by touches of cherry stone, grape, flowers, white pepper and gentle sweet spices. Some pear emerges on the finish. Alc 48%

Lungarotti Rubesco Grappa

Lungarotti is one of Umbria’s leading producers, and Rubesco its best selling wine. Saline, seawater aromas are joined by touches of black pepper and lemon. Some floral notes and grape. Creamy attack with some very subtle red fruit sweetness along with grape, sweet spices and a touch of pear. Alc 45%

Lungarotti Riserva di Sagrantino di Montefalco Grappa

Made from the marc of the estate’s Montefalco Sagrantino, this Grappa spends 18 months in oak. Rich, caramelised wood and dried fruit aromas are followed in the mouth by an intense, aromatic wood character with sweet notes of red fruits, raisin, grape, pear and peach skin. Long. Alc 45%

Marolo Grappa di Barolo 12 Year Old

Distilled in 2007 in Alba, Piedmont, then aged for 12 years in small oak and acacia barrels, this grappa takes you on a journey: from woody, peppery and tobacco-infused scents to an intense, warm palate with subtle hedgerow fruits enveloped by rich, toasty, spicy oak and a streak of caramelised nuts. Fresh and well balanced with a rich tobacco finish, this is an ideal sipper. Alc 50%

Marolo Grappa di Gewurztraminer

Floral scented, with just a hint of subtle peach and typical Gewurztraminer rosewater character, this is fragrant in the mouth too. A touch of black tea is accompanied by summer flowers, citrus, grape, peach skin and some sweet spice. Alc 42%

Marzadro Diciotto Lune Stravecchia Grappa

Making Grappa since 1949, Marzadro has produced Diciotto Lune from the marcs of five Trentino varieties: Marzemino, Teroldego, Merlot, Moscato and Chardonnay. Distilled from a water bath into pot stills, it’s then aged in small barrels of Cherry, Ash, Oak and Robinia (‘Stravecchia’ is synonymous with the Riserva category, requiring a minimum of 18 months of barrel ageing), each imparting its own characteristics. Caramelised cashew nuts and dried citrus peel aromas are followed by a rich, super-smooth palate with a caramel edge and notes of grape and pear. Intense, warm and round, it finishes with some black pepper and sweet spice.

Alc 41%

Monteverro Grappa

Located in the Maremma in Tuscany, Monteverro sends the marc from its Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc fermentations to the Nannoni distillery an hour up the road, which produces two grappas for the estate using artisanal discontinuous stills with small copper boilers. Fragrant pear and grape aromas are followed by intense, spicy flavours with juicy pear, a subtle creaminess and a long finish of melon and peach skin. Alc 42%

Monteverro Riserva 3 Anni Grappa

Gentle floral and grapey scents with overtones of wood polish and nuts lead to a smooth and round palate with peachy, woody touches and a touch of banana. Some spice on the smooth finish. Alc 42%

Nardini Extrafina Grappa

In 1779, Bortolo Nardini was the first person to establish a permanent grappa distillery, in a converted osteria in Bassano del Grappa in the Veneto. The company’s grappas are still held up as shining examples today, and this white grappa blows any modern misconceptions out of the water: its sweet and floral fragrance with subtle grape and pear notes leads to an intense palate with impressive clarity. Rich cream in the background is layered with soft pear, yellow fruits, melon and a touch of sweet spice. Smooth, round and moreish, this is a superb white grappa – the perfect aperitif? Alc 42%

Nardini Selection Riserva 7 Anni Grappa

This copper-coloured grappa has been aged for at least seven years in Slavonian oak barrels. It has a delicately woody scent with some spice. The palate, meanwhile, is intense, focused, fresh and clear, with a subtle creamy backbone overlaid with tobacco, spice, almond, melon, nut and cherry stone. An enticing savoury style. Alc 45%

Bortolo Nardini Selection Riserva 15 Anni Grappa

Aged for at least 15 years in Slavonian oak barrels, this is a complex Grappa full of cinnamon, nutmeg, dried fruits, cigar tobacco, spicy cedar wood, dusty books and dried orange peel. On the palate those sweet spices and dried orange peel combine with a fragrant waft of pot-pourri, followed by rich cigar tobacco and dusty, spicy wood. It’s beautifully balanced and smooth, although it has a spiky, refreshing edge to it. A gorgeous peach skin character emerges in the mouth long after the last drop has been drunk! Alc 45%

Poli Sarpa di Poli Grappa

The tag on the bottle describes the typical Venetian ‘rasentin’ – or rinsed coffee – where the finished espresso cup is rinsed with a splash of Grappa and enjoyed. This is a perfect Grappa for rasentin, as it’s fairly neutral in character. It has a floral, grapey nose and a focused palate that’s pretty straightforward, well balanced, smooth and enjoyable. Subtle pear and grape notes and just a tiny touch of cream on the finish. Alc 40%

Poli Po di Poli Morbida Grappa

This boutique distillery close to Bassano del Grappa in the Veneto has produced this Grappa made from 100% Moscato marc. Floral, slightly sweet scents of yellow fruits and pear are followed by a very fragrant and floral palate typical of Moscato. Open and inviting it has touches of yellow fruits alongside white flowers, grass and a touch of nuttiness on the finish. Alc 40%

Poli Barrique Solera di Famiglia 18-98 Grappa

The 18-98 Family Solera was founded at Poli Distillerie in 2001, using seven barrels of grappa kept aside each year until 2014. The youngest spirit has a minimum ageing of 18 months in barrique and there are 98 barriques in total, hence the name. Bottled in 2018, this release has scents of furniture polish, spicy cedar wood, coffee beans and orange peel, which are joined in the mouth by nutty notes laced with juicy orange, coffee, cigar tobacco, savoury spices and wood, with a slightly resinous note at the end. Orange veers into fudgy toffee on the very long finish. Alc 55%

Tedeschi Capitel Monte Olmi Grappa di Amarone

Made from the marc of Tedeschi’s single-vineyard Riserva Amarone, distilled in a discontinuous still and matured for two years in oak barriques. Aromas of sweet tobacco, black tea, forest fruits, spicy cedar and a touch of caramel are followed in the mouth by a sweet vein of red fruits enveloped by long, rich flavours of peach skin, toffee apple, vanilla, black pepper and sweet spices. Delicious! Alc 42%

Villa Sandi Prosecco Grappa

Villa Sandi is a leading producer of Prosecco. Seawater and grape notes are joined by creamy and floral touches. The round palate has citrus and cream flavours with some floral highlights, then a touch of apple and melon on the finish. Alc 40%

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The best XO Cognac: Eight bottles to try

For many people around the globe, Cognac’s status as a luxury lifestyle statement – and the world’s leading brandy style – hangs upon the quality of its XO expressions.

Until 2018, you could label a Cognac as XO after only six years of ageing, but now the minimum period of maturation is a decade. In reality, this made little difference to most quality-conscious distillers, because they were already ageing their eaux-de-vie for well over 10 years anyway.

Creating these XO styles is the point at which the great Cognac terroir of Grande and Petite Champagne comes into its own. Those deep, chalky soils help to create a distillate that rewards patience and long years in oak – whether produced by one of the big, multinational-owned Cognac houses, or by a small farm operation using only the fruit of its own vineyards.

Best XO Cognacs

Bisquit & Dubouché XO

A recently relaunched XO sourced from Grande and Petite Champagne, this is a Cognac to woo whisky lovers, with smoky oak, dried fruit and stewed plum, moving into slightly austere tobacco leaf, clove and liquorice. At the richer and more wood-driven end of the spectrum – and a fine example of that style. Alc 40%

Château de Montifaud XO

A family producer – six generations of the Vallets have farmed here – and an XO that showcases the sometimes overshadowed Petite Champagne sub-region. Limestone-rich soils produce a Cognac of finesse and delicacy – very fruity, undercut by savoury light spice and a beguiling nuttiness. Light rancio notes hint at the inclusion of some decades-old eaux-de-vie. Alc 40%

Delamain Pale & Dry Centenaire XO

A new incarnation of this 100-year-old classic, with a higher abv, a smaller bottle and notably more intense aromas of jasmine and honeysuckle, merging into lip-smacking tropical fruit and citrus notes. Creamy Madagascan vanilla, a glorious texture and a supremely long finish. Retains all the harmony and charm of the original. Alc 42%

Frapin Château de Fontpinot XO

Frapin is something of an XO specialist – the roster of expressions runs into double figures – but this single property Cognac remains the house’s benchmark, and superbly encapsulates the house style. Pressed flowers, light dried apricot, then soft vanilla and gently roasted almond. Perfectly balanced and utterly seamless. Alc 41%

Hennessy XO

Maurice Hennessy is reputed to have created the Extra Old (XO) term more than 150 years ago, and this remains, for many, the epitome of the style. We’re leaving delicacy behind here and moving into powerful, rich and spicy territory, with lots of wood-driven smoke and tangy, dried fruit. Dark chocolate, clove and peppercorn come through on a robust and well-structured palate. Alc 40%

Hine Antique XO

Like Delamain’s Pale & Dry, this old favourite has recently celebrated its 100th birthday, and time hasn’t diminished its superlative quality one jot. Hine’s vinous style comes to the fore here: all delicacy and finesse, but with a deceptive structure and evolved character from the inclusion of decades-old eaux-de-vie. Alc 40%

Jean Fillioux Grande Réserve XO

An independent family domaine with a link to successive Hennessy Master Distillers, Jean Fillioux has about 20ha of vineyard in the heart of Grande Champagne. Bottled at an unusually high strength, this has great intensity and complexity, with more flavours leaping from the glass the longer you leave it: peaches in syrup, orange blossom, dark honey and cigar humidor. Alc 44%

Paul Giraud Vieille Réserve XO

Stunning value from a 42ha Grande Champagne estate that is farmed organically, distilling all its eaux-de-vie on the lees for greater fragrance and texture. This is pure tasting pleasure, with honeyed peach and apricot undercut by a little clove and ginger. The sweeter elements are always held in check by toasted, nutty notes and an unmistakable tang of rancio. Alc 40%

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The strong performance from the wine and spirits arm of luxury goods giant LVMH helped its parent company to post first-quarter revenues of just under €14bn, up 30% on last year and 8% higher than the first three months of 2019.

Moët Hennessy’s first-quarter revenues of €1.51bn were 36% higher than the same period in 2020, and 17% up on the first three months of 2019, the company said. That made the wine and spirits division the second-best performer for LVMH, behind Fashion & Leather Goods.

LVMH highlighted ‘good performances’ for its wine and spirits brands in Europe and the US, adding that sales volumes of Hennessy Cognac were 28% higher than in 2020. ‘China, which is the first market to have been affected by the pandemic, experienced a strong rebound,’ LVMH said. ‘Demand in the United States remained robust.’

COVID-19 severely impacted LVMH’s business in 2020: the company’s first-quarter revenues of €10.6bn were down 17% on the same period of 2019, with Moët Hennessy’s sales falling 14% to €1.18bn.

Champagne volumes suffered a ‘significant’ drop in the second quarter of 2020, but rebounded somewhat later in the year, especially in the US.

The year also saw the integration into the business of 2019 acquisitions Château d’Esclans and Château du Galoupet, makers of high-end Provence rosé wine, including d’Esclans’ popular Whispering Angel label.

In February this year, Moët Hennessy bought a 50% stake in luxury Champagne brand Armand de Brignac from rap star and entrepreneur Jay-Z for an undisclosed sum.

The company has taken over global distribution for the Champagne, also known as ‘Ace of Spades’ Champagne and famed for its metallic bottles, pewter labels and high price-tags.

Moët Hennessy owns a formidable roster of Champagne, wine and spirits brands, including Moët & Chandon, Ruinart, Krug, Château d’Yquem, Cloudy Bay, Clos des Lambrays, Glenmorangie and Ardbeg.

The Gascon countryside is quintessential rural France: picture-postcard landscapes, bastide villages and a sleepy atmosphere. Unlike the monoculture of the Médoc or the Côte d’Or, vines here compete for space with sunflowers, maize and cattle.

This is the home of Armagnac, France’s oldest distilled spirit. Reflecting the countryside it calls home, Armagnac is a drink of great variety and nuance – arguably more so than its more celebrated rival, Cognac.

Lying to the north of the Armagnac region, the Cognac region stretches from just above Bordeaux to as far north as La Rochelle, and eastwards from the Atlantic to beyond Angoulême. So what, apart from origin, differentiates them?

Cognac: the region

There are about 78,000ha of vineyards in Cognac, split into six zones or crus:

Grande Champagne: The most prized, with deep, crumbly chalk soils and located to the south of the Charente river. Produces floral, fine-toned eaux-de-vie that benefit from long ageing.

Petite Champagne: Surrounding Grande Champagne, with less-crumbly chalk soils and a more oceanic climate. Produces floral, lightly fruity Cognacs.

Borderies: A small enclave north of the Charente. It has less chalk, producing aromatic but faster-ageing Cognacs.

Fins Bois: The largest cru, Fins Bois surrounds the first three, and has mostly thin clay/limestone soils. Produces fruity, faster-maturing Cognacs.

Bons Bois: A varied cru surrounding Fins Bois, with a number of different soil and climate types.

Bois Ordinaires/Bois à Terroirs: Covering the Atlantic coast and the Ile d’Oléron and Ile de Ré. Unsurprisingly, it has a strong oceanic influence.

Armagnac: the region

Much smaller than Cognac, there are 15,000ha of vines planted in the IGP Côtes de Gascogne and PDO Floc de Gascogne, of which around 4,200ha are identified exclusively for Armagnac production. The region is split into three zones:

Bas-Armagnac: Located to the west, this area was once under the Atlantic Ocean. When the waters receded to the Bay of Biscay, they left behind tawny sands and boulbènes – a sand/silt mix – with a high iron content from the nearby Pyrenees. This soil makes Bas-Armagnac the heart of the region, source of the finest and longest-lived brandies, of fruitiness, structure and delicacy.

Ténarèze: Lying to the east, soils here are a mixed bag of chalk-clay plus some boulbènes. Armagnacs made here tend to be rounder and richer, but still express their finest qualities only after decades of ageing.

Haut-Armagnac: An L-shaped territory embracing Bas-Armagnac and Ténarèze to the east and south. Chalky soils, highly prized in the Grande Champagne part of Cognac, are less sought-after here, with only a few vineyards scattered throughout the area.

Cognac grapes

Although there are six permitted grape varieties in Cognac, one is certainly the star performer. Ugni Blanc covers 98% of Cognac’s vineyards and is prized for its resistance to disease, its high acidity and low sugar levels. It produces a light, neutral and acidic wine (typically 8%-9% abv), that is ideally suited to distillation and ageing.

Folle Blanche was historically Cognac’s dominant variety, but it has fallen from favour because of its sensitivity to rot when grafted. It now covers less than 1% of the vineyard, producing aromatic and well-balanced Cognacs.

A new cross of Ugni Blanc and Folle Blanche, Folignan has an aromatic character. It can only make up 10% of a Cognac blend. The other varieties – Colombard, Montils and Sémillon – are insignificant.

Armagnac grapes

When it comes to grapes, the contrast between Cognac and Armagnac is even more evident. While Ugni Blanc accounts for practically the entirety of Cognac production, here it sits cheek-by-jowl with Folle Blanche, the wine grape Colombard, six little-planted curiosities – and the intriguing Baco.

Ugni Blanc is loved here for the same reason as in Cognac, producing wines with high acidity and low alcohol, ideally suited to distillation – giving Armagnacs of precision, fine fruit and smoothness.

The only hybrid grape permitted in a French AC, Baco is a crossing of Folle Blanche and the hybrid Noah. Created in 1898 by Landais schoolmaster François Baco, it was a post-phylloxera remedy when Folle Blanche had difficulty grafting onto resistant rootstocks. The maker of singularly unimpressive wine, Baco is transformed by the boulbènes soils of Bas-Armagnac into a spirit of unbridled power and complexity. Often hard work when young, Baco Armagnacs are softened by long ageing in barrel, sometimes spending decades in oak before they reach their peak of mellow complexity.

The contrast between Baco and Folle Blanche couldn’t be greater. Light and delicate, Folle Blanche is vulnerable to mildew and rot. But in the hands of a master it boasts a jasmine-scented nose with light spices and great finesse – the other end of the style spectrum from structured, four-square Baco.

How Cognac is made

Distillation must be completed by 31 March following the harvest, and comprises a small-batch, double distillation in a Charentais copper pot still. Some producers distil ‘on the lees’, including the dead yeast and pulp from the winemaking process, to give a more complex spirit character.

Cognac must be matured in oak barrels for at least two years prior to release, but is often aged for much longer. Many factors influence the character of the maturing eau-de-vie, including: oak origin (usually Tronçais or Limousin forests), age of barrel (younger casks give more flavour, but decades-old barrels have little or no influence beyond the processes of evaporation and micro-oxygenation) warehouse and barrel location.

Cognac cellar masters use a variety of cellar types – some drier, some more humid, some cooler and some warmer. Eaux-de-vie maturing in humid cellars lose more alcohol than water, while those ageing in drier cellars lose more water than alcohol. This influences spirit strength and style.

The vast majority of Cognacs are blends, composed by the cellar master from eaux-de-vie of various ages and origins to create a Cognac that is balanced, complex and consistent. Distilled water is added to dilute to the desired strength, which is usually 40% abv.

How Armagnac is made

The traditional method of Armagnac production, dating back nearly 200 years, uses a single still, the Armagnacais alambic. This allows a continuous distillation, in contrast to the batch-by-batch, double distillation practised in Cognac. But there are a few double stills in Armagnac too, after the practice was revived in the early 1970s.

To generalise, the eaux de vie made using the Cognac method are stronger (as they’re distilled twice) and, depending on your point of view, either finer or more straightforward – because only the middle part of the distillate, the heart, is used.

But it doesn’t follow that Armagnac is therefore more rustic or less refined, as much depends on the individual still used, and how it is run. Skilled distillation to a relatively low strength (about 55% alcohol) preserves fragrance and fruit, enhancing smoothness and complexity.

With a spirit that is often aged for decades, the barrels used for maturation are just as crucial as the distillation. For the first year or two, the eau de vie is aged in new barrels – typically 400 to 420 litres, of wider-grained, spicy Gascon oak, or tighter-grained, less influential Limousin oak – to mellow and achieve a peak of wood influence. Then the eau de vie is transferred into older, more neutral barrels for continued maturation, with the finest, longest-lived often moving into large glass dames-jeannes or bonbonnes after decades in wood.

Is Armagnac more distinctive and varied than Cognac? Certainly. Does that make it better? It depends what you like. Such comparisons are invidious, anyway. I’d say it was a case of horses for courses – if I didn’t think Cognac and Armagnac were different beasts altogether.

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A bottle of 1967 whisky from the The Macallan’s Anecdotes of Ages Collection, with artwork by Sir Peter Blake, went for the highest amount, of $437,500.

This limited edition whisky and art collection with Blake consists of 13 one-of-a-kind bottles of the 1967 whisky, and the bottle in this auction was A New Era of Advertising. It was offered alongside a print donated by Sir Peter Blake as well as a bespoke trip to The Macallan Estate in Speyside, Scotland.

Jamie Ritchie, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Wine, said: ‘Sotheby’s Wine and The Macallan have had a longstanding relationship for many years, and it has been a privilege to sell some of the brand’s most iconic and sought-after bottles – with the A New Era of Advertising bottle now joining this illustrious group.’

The proceeds from that lot will go to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Diversity, Equity, Access and Inclusion Initiatives.

Jay-Z birthday Cognac

A bottle of D’USSÉ 1969 Anniversaire Limited Edition Grande Champagne Cognac, bottled in celebration of rapper Jay-Z’s 50th birthday and signed by him, went for $52,500, with the money raised going to his charity, the Shawn Carter Foundation.

The Cognac comes in a diamond-shaped cut crystal bottle, with 24-carat gold leaf wrapping on the neck and decorated with the symbol of Le Croix de Lorraine. This bottle sold at Sotheby’s is the only one to include his signature, and a further limited run of the Cognac will made available for consumer purchase in the spring.

Jay-Z hit the headlines recently by selling a stake in his Champagne brand, Armand de Brignac, to LVMH last month.

Hennessy XO decanter

The final in this trio, was A Masterpiece Hennessy XO decanter by architect Frank Gehry, selling for $18,750. Proceeds will go to the Asian American Business Development Center, helping smaller businesses with financial hardships as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Designed to mark the 150th Anniversary of the Hennessy’s first X.O. Cognac in 1870, the decanter is made of glass and gold, and was number one of 150 individually numbered decanters produced.

Spirits only

The rare whisky and cognac auction was the first dedicated spirits-only sale for Sotheby’s New York.

Ritchie said ‘We are thrilled with the results achieved for the three exceptional charitable lots presented today in our first dedicated spirits sale in New York.

‘Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed a staggering increase in demand for prized, rare whiskies – and the strong prices realised during today’s sale are a perfect illustration of this rapidly growing trend.’

In 2019, a bottle of 1926 Macallan sold for a record breaking £1.5 million at Sotheby’s in London. 

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Cognac begins with wine, both in its production and its history. It was in the 16th century that Dutch traders discovered that the wine of France’s Charente region could be preserved during long sea voyages by distillation. The technique was further refined over time to develop the distinctive Charente method of double distillation that’s used today.

Wine became brandy, and brandy became Cognac – the name a guarantee of quality thanks to the region’s climate, soil, grape variety, maturation techniques and human expertise. By law, you can’t make Cognac anywhere else.

Today, you can find Cognacs for every pocket and in an increasingly diverse array of styles, from the simple delights of a young VS to the depth and complexity of a sumptuous XO.

Here are eight of the best, at less than £100 per bottle.

Best Cognac under £100/$100 to try

Camus Ile de Ré Cliffside Cellar

Extreme Cognac? The Ile de Ré is an Atlantic island near La Rochelle – as far away from Cognac’s heartland as you can get. Camus has been working here for nearly 20 years, developing a range of Cognacs including this typically fruity example, which combines fragrant mandarin with a beguiling, maritime salted caramel character. Alc 40%

Courvoisier XO

Among the ‘big four’ Cognac houses, Courvoisier treads a fine stylistic line: rich, but elegant; opulent, but never allowing wood to dominate. This is perhaps the greatest of its core expressions: tropical fruit, mocha, polished antique furniture and seasoned leather. A brilliant blend of eaux-de-vie from Grande and Petite Champagne, plus Borderies. Alc 40%

Delamain Pale & Dry XO

A classic. This, remarkably, is the entry point to the superlative Delamain range, and it’s a great place to start, thanks to its trademark elegance, beautiful fruit and gentle spice and tang. There’s a new Pale & Dry to mark the blend’s centenary, but it’s a tad more expensive

– so snap this up while you can. Alc 40%

Frapin VSOP

A VSOP for north of £50/$50 a bottle? But this is a box of delights that can give many an XO a run for its money. Exclusively produced from Frapin’s Grande Champagne vineyards, it mingles flowers and fruit in equal measure, backed up by a deceptively powerful structure, soft spice and gentle vanilla. Alc 40%

Guillon-Painturaud Réserve Grande Champagne Single Estate

Do your cheeseboard a favour and pour a glass of this gorgeous Cognac from an excellent family producer with 19ha of Grande Champagne vines. Aged for 10 years, it’s effectively an XO, but not in price, and it offers a perfectly poised combination of aromatic florals, vanilla and light ginger and nutmeg. Alc 40%

Hine Domaines Hine Bonneuil 2008

Hine has always been strongly connected to wine – both cellar masters are former winemakers – and the Bonneuil vintage bottlings aim to express the essence of the company’s Grande Champagne vineyards. A light touch in the cellar makes for an expressive, highly aromatic and youthful Cognac with a distinctive red fruit character. Look out for the newly released 2010 too. Alc 42.7%

Ragnaud-Sabourin No 10 VSOP

That this is designated a VSOP illustrates the imprecision of Cognac’s age classifications. It’s aged for 10 years and is a decadent, comfort Cognac of the first order. Fragrant, ultra-ripe fruit with lots of complexity coming from the oak: light honey, cinnamon and darker notes of cacao and a little liquorice. Alc 41%

Tesseron Composition Fine Champagne

The first non-XO-and-beyond release from the Tesseron family of Pontet-Canet fame, this is both a lovely sipping Cognac and a blue-chip base for a hedonistic Sidecar. All the Tesseron trademarks are here: prune, plum, vanilla and a long-lasting chocolate note on the finish. Alc 40%

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Of all the spirits categories, Cognac, with its clearly defined tiers of products of different age specifications, is one of the most varied. From the VS and VSOP categories, used in cocktails everywhere and enjoyed in nightclubs in America, to the older and more luxuriously presented offerings, starting at XO and working upwards, there is a Cognac to suit everyone.

The year 2020 marked the 150th anniversary of the first ever XO – or Extra Old – being made. Created at Hennessy by Maurice Hennessy and cellar master Emile Fillioux in 1870, the ‘extra old’ blend was apparently intended for friends and family, but then it was actually launched in the US, before being taken to Shanghai and Hong Kong in 1872.

What exactly does the XO label mean? In order to understand, we must first look at how Cognac is produced.

XO essentials

Cognac is produced from an area of 78,000ha of vineyards, most of which span the Charente and Charente-Maritime regions of France’s Atlantic west coast, north of Bordeaux. It is made predominantly using the Ugni Blanc grape – which comprises 95% of the grapes grown for the spirit – and fermentation and the double distillation process are completed in separate batches.

The resulting spirit, known as eau-de-vie, is then aged in oak barrels for years, if not decades, until it is sufficiently conditioned to be blended with other eaux-de-vie of varying ages and flavour characteristics to make a final Cognac product.

There are different classifications, or styles, of Cognac: VS, VSOP, Napoleon, XO and XXO; each has a minimum age requirement (two years, four years, six years, 10 years and 14 years, respectively), with regard to the eaux- de-vie that are used in the blend.

Of course, Cognac houses are free to create ever more premium expressions with vanishingly rare, older eaux-de-vie, but these specimens will be bound for a Baccarat crystal decanter, an Hors d’Age (‘beyond age’) classification and an eye-watering price tag.

For most Cognac houses, an XO is the most upscale of their core range, often sitting in the £70-£120 price bracket in the UK – an affordable luxury for enthusiasts wanting to understand the nuances that Cognac expresses as it grows gracefully older.

Capturing time

‘XO is part of the older categories of Cognac, as it requires a minimum of 10 years of ageing in oak casks, [but most] XOs are much older than 10 years,’ explains Raphaël Delpech, director general of the BNIC (Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac). ‘It is therefore the expression of time and patience. During this long ageing process, delicate aromas appear, such as “rancio” – a range of notes of autumn, mushroom and walnut oil – but also fruity, floral and spicy notes.

‘XO blends usually combine eaux-de-vie from different years and different cru regions,’ he continues. ‘[Over time], several generations of master blenders supervise the maturation of an XO, meaning it is the perfect alchemy between terroir, men/women and time.’

Speaking of time, the 10-year minimum age specification for the eaux-de-vie used in an XO is a relatively new requirement. In 2011, the BNIC announced the raising of the age from six years to 10, with the new classification coming into effect in 2018 in order to allow Cognac houses time to give their stocks the required maturation.

‘All decisions regarding the evolution of the Cognac specification are voted on at the BNIC by professionals – brands and producers. This change was a collective decision within the Cognac sector,’ explains Delpech.

‘In practice, there were already many XO Cognacs on the market in which the youngest eau-de-vie exceeded 10 years of age. This measure aimed to align the regulation and the market reality, and also to confirm Cognac’s haut-de-gamme [top-range] positioning in the world of spirits.’

Historic legacies

Producers confirm this assertion, appearing particularly unfazed by what could be seen by the outsider as a considerable change.

‘At Courvoisier we have used 10-year-old eaux-de-vie in our XO blend since its creation in 1984, so the changes to XO classification did not have an impact on the way we create this blend,’ explains Courvoisier master blender Patrice Pinet.

For Delamain, one of the last family-owned Cognac houses, its two XOs are the entry products of its range. Charles Braastad, the managing director of the house and ninth generation of the Delamain family to be making its Cognacs, explains why this classification is so special: ‘XO and above is who we are,’ he explains. ‘It is the most interesting, challenging, rewarding and creative place to be in the world of Cognac.

‘What happens across time to old eaux-de- vie is a magical thing. The potential at the upper end of the spectrum is far more varied than at the younger end, and to have the opportunity to listen to what nature and time are telling us… We can wait for Cognacs to reach their individual magic.’

It’s not just Hennessy that celebrated an anniversary for its XO in 2020; Delamain’s Pale & Dry has also reached the grand old age of 100, giving Braastad a chance to pause and reflect. ‘Arriving at Pale & Dry’s centenary has been a deep and personal experience,’ he explains.

‘When I think of Jacques and Robert [Delamain, its creators] coming back from World War I and setting about creating Pale & Dry, when I read about the birdsong – audible even in the trenches – that got them through the war and how it inspired them to immerse themselves in natural beauty and the potential of nature, which is the essence of Pale & Dry, it makes me very proud and very humble. It has been a very important and moving experience to see the world, and Cognac-making, through their eyes.’

The world of Cognac is one in which age certainly comes with beauty – and XO is the perfect place from which enthusiasts can explore this most exquisite of spirits.

Worth the wait: great XO Cognacs

Château de Beaulon 12 Year Old XO Premier

While 95% of the grapes grown in Cognac are Ugni Blanc, there are two other approved varieties – Colombard and Folle Blanche. This XO was made entirely from the latter two. A nose of grapefruit peel, orange segments, ginger, toffee and wood varnish precedes a silky-smooth palate of nectarine, cinnamon, dark chocolate truffles and warming winter spice. Alcohol 40%

Courvoisier XO

A classic Cognac from one of the region’s biggest houses, Courvoisier’s offering is a blend of eaux-de-vie that have been matured for 11-25 years. The nose is an appealing blend of dried orange peel, raisins, leather satchel, juicy blackcurrant and eucalyptus, leading onto a delicate, fruity and floral palate with a smattering of spice. Alc 40%

Delamain Pale & Dry XO

Delamain’s flagship expression, which is celebrating its centenary this year. A beguiling nose of lemon drops, Red Delicious apple skins, marmalade, cinnamon and slate. On the palate, that marmalade is accompanied by white pepper, cinnamon and cocoa, before a glorious rancio character washes in, with a savoury leather finish. Alc 40%

Frapin, Château de Fontpinot XO

A single-estate Cognac from Frapin, this boasts a glorious bouquet of orchard fruit and shortbread that hints at the veritable pâtisserie of a palate, suggestive of fruit custard tarts, canelé and salted caramel, all dusted with cinnamon and a hint of old leather. Alc 41%

Hennessy XO

The XO to start them all, Hennessy XO turned 150 years old in 2020. A deep nose of dried dates and prunes, sticky toffee pudding, orange peel and black pepper lead on to a pleasing palate of dark dried fruits, cocoa powder, tobacco and cinnamon spice. Alc 40%

Maxime Trijol XO Classic

Six generations of this family have made Cognac, since 1859. A deep and dusky nose of date sponge, figs, liquorice and vanilla. On the palate, dried dates and raisins, chewy toffee, caramel sauce and ginger are overlain with a hint of grapefruit bitterness and a perfumed finish. Alc 40%

Normandin-Mercier XO

Produced from grapes grown in the Grande Champagne area of Cognac, otherwise known as the ‘premier cru’ of the six regions. Approachable aromas of orange blossom, ginger snaps, white pepper and chalk lead on to a beautifully balanced palate, with orange sauce, 70% dark chocolate, varnished sideboard, chopped hazelnut and violets. Alc 40%

Vallein-Tercinier XO 46° Small Batch

A blend of 15- and 25-year-old eaux-de-vie, this XO is all sweetness and light. Light crème brûlée, lemon rind, vanilla pod and straw aromas combine with a creamy palate of peach, vanilla custard and nutmeg. Alc 46%

As the story goes with so many classic cocktails, the exact origins of the Sidecar are, sadly, lost to the mists of time. This Cognac drink, which combines the spirit with lemon juice and triple sec and is named after the motorbike attachment, is a simple yet pleasing libation that appears to hail from either Paris or London.

The cocktail first appeared in writing in bartender Harry McElhone’s book, ABC of Cocktails, which was published in 1919, with McElhone initially crediting the cocktail to Pat MacGarry, who worked as a bartender at the Buck’s Club in London.

To confuse matters, McElhone, who ran the famed Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, then appears to take credit for the drink himself in later editions of his book.

Arguments abound as to the best balance of the ingredients too. Some call for the drink to be made in equal parts, as per the first recipe published by McElhone, while others prefer to dial up the spirit, making it two parts Cognac to one part lemon and one part triple sec.

This latter recipe was included in bartender Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930, and some refer to this drink as being from the ‘English school’ – as opposed to the equal parts of the ‘French school’.

An elegant cocktail that’s served straight up in a Martini glass or coupe, this is a drink that sits in the sour category of cocktails, and thus used to be served in a glass garnished with a sugar rim to give the drink more sweetness.

This practice has fallen out of fashion in recent years, with bartenders often preferring to simply garnish the drink with a twist of lemon instead.

With such a light, fruity flavour profile, the Sidecar works best with Cognacs that fall under the younger categories of ageing: VS and VSOP, which are made with eaux-de-vie that has been aged at least two and four years respectively. Cognacs that have been created especially for cocktails, and which may not have the traditional age categories on their labels, also work well.

Whatever your taste preferences, it pays to play around with the levels of the Cognac, lemon and triple sec to find the perfect Sidecar for you.

Best Cognac to buy

Courvoisier VSOP Exclusif

Developed especially for cocktails, VSOP Exclusif is made with eaux-de-vie from the four top growing regions in Cognac: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies and Fins Bois. A smooth Cognac boasting sweet flavours of apricot, plum, caramel and cocoa, mingling with ginger, cinnamon and vanilla spice. Alc 40%

Frapin 1270

Named after the year the Frapin family settled in southwest France, working first as wine-growers and then as distillers, Frapin 1270 is a Cognac intended for use in cocktails. Made with grapes grown exclusively in the Grande Champagne cru, this boasts a floral nose with accompanying aromas of leather. A palate of orchard fruit, caramel, cinnamon and dried fruits is rounded off with dry, toasty spice. Alc 40%

Hine H by Hine

Made with grapes grown in the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne Crus, H by Hine is another Cognac created specifically for cocktails. Appealing floral notes of jasmine and iris sit atop a body of butterscotch, caramel and vanilla. Chopped almonds, hazelnuts, black pepper and ginger spice come in on the finish. Alc 40%

Hennessy VSOP Privilège

The house of Hennessy is where the VSOP category was born in 1817, when King George IV of Britain requested a ‘very special old pale’ from the maison. This VSOP Privilège is a blend of over 60 eaux-de-vie, resulting in a rounded Cognac that’s designed to be mixed. It boasts candied orange and dried apricots drizzled with honey, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and clove. Alc 40%

Martell Blue Swift

Blue Swift isn’t technically classified as a Cognac, thanks to the fact that Martell took VSOP Cognac and further aged it in bourbon barrels, which is against regulations. However, this ‘spirit drink’ is revered for its versatility in cocktails, with flavours of rich stone fruit, apple crumble and vanilla custard, plus a dusting of cocoa powder. Alc 40%

Merlet Brothers Blend

A family-owned house that can trace its Cognac-making history back to 1850, Merlet’s Brothers Blend is a contemporary Cognac created by current family head Gilles Merlet for his sons Luc and Pierre. Made with eaux-de-vie that’s at least four years old, it’s a soft and approachable Cognac, full of stone fruit, jasmine, leather and vanilla, with a touch of cracked pepper. Alc 40%

Pierre Ferrand 10 Generations

Launched to celebrate the 10 generations of the Ferrand family that were involved in the business from its inception in 1630, this Cognac is made with grapes exclusively grown in the Grande Champagne region, with a fifth of the eaux-de-vie in this blend having been aged in former Sauternes casks. This helps to foster sweet fruit notes of pineapple, apricot and peach, alongside caramel, vanilla and tobacco. Alc 46%

Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal

Celebrating a royal warrant that King Louis XV gave to Rémy Martin to plant a new vineyard in 1738, this Cognac is rich and full-bodied, with fruitcake aromas leading to a pleasing palate of date sponge and toffee sauce, crystalised ginger, cinnamon, dark chocolate and leather. Alc 40%

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Decanter’s Complete Guide to Cognac 

Best Cognacs under £50/$50

Cognac’s most sought-after vineyards are found in the Grande Champagne zone south of the Charente river, where the spongy chalk soils allow the vine roots to delve as deeply as nine metres in search of water and nutrients.

These vineyards are the source of the region’s most age-worthy eaux-de-vie, which can take decades to reach their peak. A precious few, aged for a lifetime or more, are transferred out of cask and into glass Dame-Jeannes (demi-johns) to prevent further influence from the oak.

Prolonged ageing lends these eaux-de-vie a complexity and distinctively savoury character called rancio – an elusive, funky, umami-like quality only found after decades of maturation. It’s the common thread that unites all of these Cognacs, whether their gift-giving qualities derive from their vintage year or the quality of the blending. Sometimes even the packaging is a work of art.

Cognacs to buy as a gift

Camus Extra

This classically elegant bottle is a retort to the fussy rococo creations of some Cognac houses, while the velvet-smooth liquid inside shows the ageing potential of aromatic Borderies eaux-de-vie, alongside Grande and Petite Champagne. Pot-pourri, cigar box, ancient leather and a superlatively seamless quality in the mouth. Alc 40%

Frapin Millésime 1992 26 Year Old 

After more than a quarter of a century in the dry Marie Frapin cave, this has all the classic Frapin qualities: explosively fragrant, floral and delicately fruity, but with real backbone and even a little tannin from its long time in cask. If 1992 is a landmark year for anyone close to you, you know what to do. Alc 40.5%

Hennessy XO Frank Gehry Edition

It’s 150 years since Maurice Hennessy and Emile Fillioux created the first Hennessy XO, and to mark the occasion Cognac’s biggest name has joined forces with architect Frank Gehry to create special commemorative packaging in Gehry’s signature style. The Cognac inside remains, as ever, richly hedonistic and one for those who love plenty of complexity from the cask. Alc 40%

Hine Antique XO 100th Anniversary

For all Hine’s prowess with vintage Cognacs (see below), this blend of around 40 eaux-de-vie remains arguably its finest achievement. There’s not much better than its tightrope walk between perfumed elegance and broad-shouldered, rancio-rich indulgence – unless it’s a special edition unveiled for this expression’s centenary, and containing eaux-de-vie from 1920. Alc 40%

Hine 1978 Early Landed

Aged vintage Cognacs aren’t cheap – and it gets pricier still if you have to buy two. But if your budget allows, buy both Hine 1978 Early Landed and Hine 1978 Jarnac Matured. Comparing an early landed Cognac (one shipped to England for extended maturation) with its Jarnac-matured sibling is endlessly fascinating. In brief: early landed = elegance, delicacy, youthfulness; Jarnac = richness, complexity, depth. Both are stunning. Alc 40%

Martell XO

Remarkably, Martell only launched its XO Cognac as recently as 2005, but it was worth the wait. True to the house style, it combines Borderies and Grande Champagne fruit in a sumptuously rich combination of mouth-filling fruit – baked apples, but also darker notes of date and sultana – and spicy, peppered oak. The bottle looks pretty decent too. Alc 40%

Pierre Ferrand Sélection des Anges

Pure drinking pleasure from this innovative Grande Champagne house. Never mind the angels’ share, this is the angels’ selection: the concentrated, complex Cognac left in the cask after years of evaporation and oxidation. Gorgeous ripe fruit, dried rose petals and walnuts in a drizzle of dark honey. Alc 41.8%

Tesseron Lot 76 XO Tradition

XO specialist Tesseron has a number of delightful bottlings, but this is perhaps the most expressive, offering layers of richly stewed fruits, dark honey and the kind of lifted, nutty notes you find in old amontillado sherry. Just when you think it’s going to tip over into blowsiness, a beguiling floral character steps in. Glorious. Alc 40%

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Best Cognacs under £50/$50

Decanter’s Complete Guide to Cognac

Few products have embraced the world of luxury as successfully as Cognac. High-end blends such as Louis XIII and Richard Hennessy retail for thousands of pounds or dollars, and are a staple of the über-wealthy scene in China alongside Lafite and Latour.

The good news is that you don’t have to part with a four-figure sum to find excellent-quality Cognac, whether your taste is for the conventional blends classified as VSOP, or for something a little more off-the-beaten-track.

More and more producers are now exploring the region’s six production zones or crus to find new Cognacs with a distinctive back-story and provenance, or experimenting with different distillation and maturation techniques to unlock a new world of flavour.

Whether you prefer the traditional or the new-wave, here are eight sub-£50/$50 Cognacs that offer excellent value and quality.

Black Friday deal

Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac Fine Champagne

Flavours of vanilla and baking spices, stewed apricot and a whisper of hedgerow florals. A classic worth bagging at this price.

£37  Now £27 on Amazon UK 

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Cognacs under £50 to try

Augier L’Océanique

Something a little different from the oldest Cognac house, recently revived by Martell owner Pernod Ricard. No colouring, no chill filtration, made from Ugni Blanc grapes grown on the Atlantic island of Oléron. Understated floral aromas, restrained citrus notes, a whiff of rolling tobacco and an unmistakably maritime, saline character. Light, but intriguing. Alc 40.1%

Camus VSOP Borderies

Another Cognac ‘of place’ – this time the smallest of the Cognac crus, Borderies. Family-owned Camus is the biggest vineyard owner here, and this limited edition VSOP showcases Borderies’ winning combination of perfumed fruit and more subtle floral characteristics, rounded out here by oak-driven flavours of vanilla and spice. Utterly charming. Alc 40%

Frapin 1270, France

It’s 750 years since the Frapin family started growing vines in the region, but this highly mixable Cognac has only been around since 2018. Like all Frapin products, it’s sourced from the house’s own vineyards and distilled on the lees, sharing the delicacy and balance that epitomises the Frapin style. One for the cocktail cabinet. Alc 40%

H by Hine VSOP

Another versatile Cognac for cocktails or mixing with tonic or ginger ale, this has an exuberant character of lime blossom, jasmine and light tropical fruit, combining fruit from Grande and Petite Champagne. To quote the Hine website: ‘If it were a young man, it would have the keen eye of Dick Diver in Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night.’ Well, quite. Alc 40%

Merlet Brothers Blend

Created by Gilles Merlet and sons Pierre and Luc (hence the name), this is another new-wave product that uses fruit-forward eaux-de-vie from the Fins Bois cru to create a vibrant but still mature Cognac that’s as happy over ice or in a cocktail as it is neat. The balance of delicate florals with stone fruit and wood-derived vanilla and spice is exemplary. Alc 40%

Pierre Ferrand 10 Generations

Maison Ferrand founder Alex Gabriel is a bit of a Cognac rebel, pushing the envelope of production techniques – sometimes beyond what is strictly legal. This is relatively conventional, although 20% of the distillate was matured in ex-Sauternes casks, and has classic Grande Champagne flavours of flowers, fruit, honey and a touch of menthol. Alc 46%

Rémy Martin VSOP

Classics are classics for a reason. It’s almost a century since Rémy Martin created the first VSOP Fine Champagne (combining eaux-de-vie from Grande and Petite Champagne), and this remains the flagship of the house. Bags of vanilla and baking spices from Limousin oak, alongside stewed apricot and a whisper of hedgerow florals. Alc 40%

Waitrose No 1 VSOP

Supermarket own-label Cognacs can be a bit hit-and-miss, but this is an enjoyable exception. It’s made by Unicognac, part of the region’s biggest group of co-operatives, and it’s exactly what you want from a traditional VSOP, with lots of bright fruit, vanilla and toffee fudge. The Cognac equivalent of a long, hot bath. Alc 40%

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The numbers speak for themselves: 1944, 1923, 1920 – these were the excellent supporting cast in a tasting of old single-vintage Cognacs that culminated in the undoubted star attraction: an astonishing 1885 spirit that had lain ageing in its barrel for more than 110 years.

Rare are the opportunities to taste such things, so the arrival of four small samples in plastic bottles ahead of an online ‘virtual tasting’ with David Baker, managing director of specialist importer Hermitage Cognacs, was a tantalising prospect indeed.

It’s customary to run through what was happening in the world when tasting truly historic vintages of anything – so here goes…

1944, obviously, in the dark depths of World War II: 6 June, the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy; the July bomb plot by a group of senior German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler failed; Paris liberated by the Allies on 25 August; operation Market Garden at Arnhem in September, around harvest time in the few vineyards still able to operate, was followed by the Battle of the Bulge from mid-December.

In 1923, King George V attended the opening of the old Wembley stadium in April; in July, Suzanne Lenglen of France beat Kitty McKane to win her fifth successive Wimbledon singles tennis title; and on 16 October the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio was founded in Hollywood.

Three years previously, in 1920, the first flight from London to South Africa was completed in March, having taken a month and a half to complete; Scribner’s of New York published F Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise; and in November, as Cognacs were being distilled, the (doomed) League of Nations held its first meeting in Geneva.

And 135 years ago – five or six generations past – 1885 saw the passing of Victor Hugo in Paris on 22 May aged 83; a few weeks later, on 17 June the Statue of Liberty arrived as a kit of 350 parts at Bedloe’s (now Liberty) Island, New York, a gift from the people of France to the US; and on 25 October, Johannes Brahms’ 4th symphony in E, his last, was premiered in Meiningen, Germany.

Taste of the past

What we can’t know is anything much about the specific histories of these four venerable Cognacs. What is clearly evident, though, is that the distillers and cellar masters who produced them were highly skilled, sufficiently so to select and craft spirits capable of resting in their oak barrels for several decades while still remaining full of vivacity, complexity, depth and mystery when put into bottles.

Hermitage Cognacs works with top Cognac houses to hunt out small parcels of such old spirits still preserved among the five or six hundred independent producers around the region, looking primarily for those with verifiable vintage dates or age statements that define how long they’ve spent in barrel.

Baker says he looks for ‘the other’ – spirits of distinctive flavour and individuality which are likely never to find a place in today’s commercial blends, and mainly from the superior-quality regions of Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne and Borderies.

The barrel ageing, and the conditions of the cellars in which it takes place, are the critical factors, Baker says: ‘It’s really what fine Cognacs are all about.’

He continues: ‘This ageing process develops [over many years] into what we call “rancio” – a kind of madeirisation, a richness and sweetness. I think this is highly sought-after: a natural richness, not a sugary sweetness.’

Baker is also owner of Brandyclassics, the online source of a wide array of high-quality single-estate, vintage and age-statement Cognacs, Armagnacs and other spirits, including the four tasted here (see below), all ideal for special birthdays, anniversaries or corporate gifting.

The prices of the 1944, 1923, 1920 and 1885 Hermitage Cognac bottlings are, for obvious reasons, not cheap. But these are really individual pieces of history that can never be replicated.

Collectors’ items, yes they certainly can be (though you may have to wait some time to recoup the full retail price); but it would be a shame for people to leave these bottles sealed and not experience the extraordinary, effusive flavours and highly individual character of these rare old distilled spirits.

As Baker himself said, it was ‘a rather special tasting’, launching one Cognac, the 1885, which ‘is frankly unbelievable, it’s so good’…

1944

Harvested and distilled in this year (during the war). Believed to be from the southeast of the Grande Champagne region around Bouteville, on gentle chalky slopes with relatively poor soil, and aged in barrel for more than 50 years. Alc 42.3% RRP £876 Brandyclassics (only 70 bottles available)

The colour in the glass is a reddish gold with hints of tanned leather Spicy cinnamon to the fore on the nose, but it has lots of rich plummy fruit, dried fruits and tropical/molasses notes in support. It explodes onto the palate – packed with fruit, extra portions of dried orange peel pervade, then darker characters of fig and spiced walnuts/rancio maturity emerge through the back-palate and into a very lengthy finish. It’s plush and rounded, full of character and nicely balanced between the fresher fruit and its darker side.

1923

From near Lignières in the southeast of the Grande Champagne region, source of many of the finest Cognacs. The soil is rich in very porous chalk, so the Ugni Blanc vines have to root far down to reach the water margins. Aged in old, damp cellars for more than 60 years in barrel. Alc 43% RRP £964 (only about 65 bottles available)

The colour is described by David Baker as ‘a kind of grey-gold’, reflecting a naturally aged appearance. On the nose it’s quite savoury, pithy and nutty with a slightly peppery spice, dried orange-peel and marzipan with roasted pineapple notes, sloes and rancio. The palate does not disappoint, possessing a distinctly apricot richness with warming alcohol enveloping the tongue. It’s big and beautifully structured, with all the fruit and fire backed by a smoky complexity and creamy-caramel roundness. It’s really irresistible.

1920

From the prime chalky slopes of the Grande Champagne region, using some Folle Blanche fruit as well as the Ugni Blanc, and probably distilled on a traditional wood-burning still with the distiller sleeping in the distillery to supervise its production. Ageing would have been in oak casks for more than 70 years in an old, earth-floored cellar. Alc 43.5% RRP £1,085 (70 bottles available)

The colour is a deep burnt gold with more than a hint of iodine about it, clinging to the glass. There’s a distinctively complex, subtle and deep range of aromas here, with prominent cedar and turmeric spices filling out the evident rancio traits, but complimented by all sorts of ripe tropical and figgy characters, orange peel, ripe plums, baked banana and darker liquorice notes. The palate is, in short, simply delicious: smooth, not fiery at all, full and very generous. Though woody spice is central, it is completely balanced by layers of red fruits, figs, macadamia nuts, coffee bean along with softer, sweeter spices on the mid-palate, finishing juicy and moreish with roasted pineapple, toasty preserved dark fruits and a hint of liquorice. At 100 years of age, this Cognac offers depth, complexity and intrigue to entice you back for more.

1885

Really, all that needs to be known of this Cognac is that it was aged for more than 110 years in the cask, and yet was still bottled at its natural cask-strength of 46% alcohol – true testament to the skills of the cellar master who sourced and made it. From the southeast of the region we now know as Grande Champagne, around Bouteville, source of many of the finest Cognacs. Alc 46% RRP £4,981 (about 200 bottles originally available)

It’s staggering to get an opportunity even to taste a spirit of this pedigree and age. It’s perhaps best summed up by Hermitage Cognacs MD David Baker himself, who was visibly energised as he related: ‘The first thing I did when I got a sample of this was to think: gosh, that’s dark! But this is a 110-year-old Cognac – it’s so rare, it is really quite exceptional: it’s a collector Cognac. The balance is so good on it – I very rarely ever taste a Cognac of this quality.’

Exhibiting what Baker christened a ‘second-stage rancio’, this 1885 Cognac has a huge depth to it that begins on the nose, which in stately, unhurried fashion reveals a leathery-smoky richness with dark molasses notes, toasted nuts and baked cherry pastry sweetness with a grating of very dark chocolate. All of this is replicated on the palate, which erupts with huge vitality and vigour that make a mockery of this distinguished spirit’s tremendous age – and also explain its longevity! There is complexity and nuance in abundance, in turn revealing those molasses, nuts and figs, but also fragrant spices and sandalwood, baked damsons and black cherries, tobacco leaf, even notes of truffle and black treacle, though right at the end, through all the rancio and dark flavours, there is a little uplift of baked apple and pear skin. The smokiness and dark spice linger long as a reminder on the after-palate.

David Baker noted, frankly, that ‘nothing better than this may ever be found’ in Cognac. If you were lucky enough to have a bottle in your possession, his unarguable advice was: ‘Guard it with your life!’

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Decanter’s complete guide to Cognac

What is Cognac?

Cognac is a type of brandy – a distilled spirit made from grapes – produced exclusively in a region of western France that’s strictly regulated by a GI (geographical indication).

The Cognac-making process involves harvesting white grapes, making wine, distilling that wine twice, then maturing it in oak barrels for at least two years – often for much longer.

Most Cognacs are blends, created by combining the distilled spirits – known as eaux-de-vie – of different ages and from different origins. Classifications range from the youngest (VS) to older expressions such as VSOP and XO.

More than 200 million bottles of Cognac are sold every year, 98% of them outside France. Cognac is a versatile spirit that can be consumed in simple mixed drinks, in an array of cocktails, or sipped on its own.

Who makes Cognac?

• Winegrowers: Numbering well over 4,000, they mainly sell their wine to distillers, but some bottle their own Cognac.
• Professional distillers: They buy wines, distil and sell them – or custom-distil them for other producers.
• Négociants: Some 280 Cognac houses buy wines to distil, unaged eaux-de-vie, or casks of mature Cognac. These include Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier, who together account for about 85% of global Cognac sales.

Where is Cognac made?

There are about 78,000ha of vineyards in Cognac, stretching from just above Bordeaux to as far north as La Rochelle, and eastwards from the Atlantic to beyond Angoulême. The vineyards are split into six zones or crus:

• Grande Champagne: The most prized, with deep, crumbly chalk soils and located to the south of the Charente river. Produces floral, fine-toned eaux-de-vie that benefit from long ageing.
• Petite Champagne: Surrounding Grande Champagne, with less-crumbly chalk soils and a more oceanic climate. Produces floral, lightly fruity Cognacs.
• Borderies: A small enclave north of the Charente. It has less chalk, producing aromatic but faster-ageing Cognacs.
• Fins Bois: The largest cru, Fins Bois surrounds the first three, and has mostly thin clay/limestone soils. Produces fruity, faster-maturing Cognacs.
• Bons Bois: A varied cru surrounding Fins Bois, with a number of different soil and climate types.
• Bois Ordinaires/Bois à Terroirs: Covering the Atlantic coast and the Ile d’Oléron and Ile de Ré. Unsurprisingly, it has a strong oceanic influence.

What grape varieties go into Cognac?

There are six permitted grape varieties in Cognac:

• Ugni Blanc: Covering 98% of Cognac’s vineyards, and prized for its resistance to disease, its high acidity and low sugar levels. Produces a light, neutral and acidic wine (typically 8%-9% abv), ideally suited to distillation and ageing.
• Folle Blanche: Historically Cognac’s dominant variety, it has fallen from favour because of its sensitivity to rot when grafted. Now covers less than 1% of the vineyard, producing aromatic and well-balanced Cognacs.
• Folignan: A new cross of Ugni Blanc and Folle Blanche, with an aromatic character. Can only make up 10% of a blend.
• The other varieties – Colombard, Montils and Sémillon – are insignificant.

How is Cognac made?

Winemaking

The harvest – usually carried out by machine – lasts from about mid-September to mid-October, with conventional vinification giving a highly acidic wine of around 9% abv. No sugar or sulphites can be added.

Distillation

This must be completed by 31 March following the harvest, and comprises a small-batch, double distillation in a Charentais copper pot still. Some producers distil ‘on the lees’, including the dead yeast and pulp from the winemaking process, to give a more complex spirit character.

The process is as follows:

• The first chauffe or distillation creates the first distillate, the brouillis, with a strength of roughly 28%-32% abv.
• The second chauffe – sometimes called repasse or bonne chauffe – distils the brouillis, creating an eau-de-vie of around 70%-72% abv, once the ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ from the start and end of the spirit run are eliminated. These can be redistilled with the next batch.

Maturation

Cognac must be matured in oak barrels for at least two years prior to release, but is often aged for much longer. Many factors influence the character of the maturing eau-de-vie, including:

• oak origin (usually Tronçais or Limousin forests)
• grain width
• age of barrel (younger casks give more flavour, but decades-old barrels have little or no influence beyond the processes of evaporation and micro-oxygenation)
• warehouse and barrel location. Cognac cellar masters use a variety of cellar types – some drier, some more humid, some cooler and some warmer. Eaux-de-vie maturing in humid cellars lose more alcohol than water, while those ageing in drier cellars lose more water than alcohol. This influences spirit strength and style.

Blending

The vast majority of Cognacs are blends, composed by the cellar master from eaux-de-vie of various ages and origins to create a Cognac that is balanced, complex and consistent. Distilled water is added to dilute to the desired strength, which is usually 40% abv.

Cognac classifications

Cognac must be matured for at least two years before bottling, and must have a strength of at least 40% abv. Classifications include:

• VS: At least two years old. More than half the Cognac sold in the world is VS.
• VSOP: At least four years old. Just over one-third of global Cognac sales are VSOP.
• XO: At least 10 years old.
• XXO: At least 14 years old.

Other classifications are as follows:

• Aged for at least three years: Supérieur, Cuvée Supérieure or Qualité Supérieure.
• Aged for at least five years: Vieille Réserve, Réserve Rare or Réserve Royale.
• Aged for at least six years: Napoléon, Très Vieille Réserve, Très Vieux, Héritage, Très Rare, Excellence or Suprême.

If a cru is named on the label – Grande Champagne, for example – then the Cognac must be 100% from that cru. ‘Fine Champagne’ designates a Cognac blended from Grande and Petite Champagne, with at least 50% from Grande Champagne.

Vintage Cognacs – bottled by specialists such as Hine, Frapin and Delamain – must be 100% from the year named.

How to drink Cognac

Most Cognac in the world is drunk mixed – with water, over ice, or with mixers including soda, lemonade and cola.

Cognac also has a long heritage in cocktails, with classics including the Sidecar, Vieux Carré and Horse’s Neck.

The finer Cognacs – XO and above, plus vintages – are usually consumed neat to fully appreciate their complexity and character. A stemmed tulip-shaped glass is the best vessel from which to savour Cognac’s aromas and flavours.

Top Cognacs: eight names to know

Hennessy

The largest producer by far. It has a rich, sometimes woody style, ascending from VS through VSOP and XO to high-end expressions such as Paradis and Richard Hennessy.

Martell

Tending towards purity and fruit expression, thanks to Martell’s insistence on distilling clear wines only. Traditionally a user of the small Borderies cru.

Rémy Martin

Exclusively sources from Grande and Petite Champagne, specialising in VSOP and above. Also makes the high-end Louis XIII expressions.

Courvoisier

A maker of Cognacs of finesse and balance. Headquartered in Jarnac, with an historic association with Napoleon.

Hine

Prized for its elegant, fine style. A vintage specialist – look out for Jarnac-matured and ‘early-landed’ (aged in the UK) bottlings from the same year.

Frapin

Makes and ages all its Cognacs from its own vineyards. Another bottler of vintages, and single-estate Cognacs from Château de Fontpinot.

Camus

Has a broad range of expressions, including provenance-rich bottlings from the Ile de Ré off the Atlantic coast.

Delamain

Has a stellar reputation for high-end blends and single vintages, with a supple, complex style that allows the distillate to shine through.

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Rare, ‘oldest’ Cognac from 1762 fetches nearly $150,000 at auction

The grapes spirits quiz 

Sotheby’s said the 70cl bottle of 1762 Gautier Cognac was ‘the oldest Cognac vintage ever sold at auction.’

The winning bid from a collector in Asia was £118,580 ($144,525), following an online-only sale lasting several days and finishing today (28 May). Sotheby’s said the result was ‘a new auction record for a bottle of Cognac’.

Bidders drove up the price in the final hour or so – a common facet of online-only wine auctions – but the pre-sale high estimate had been £160,000.

Still, the result once again underlines how rare spirits have become a sought-after possession for more collectors in recent years.

Few would match the heritage of the 1762 Gautier, however, which has survived more than 250 years of history, including the turbulence of the French Revolution.

‘The year 1762 is notable for a number of historic events, not least Britain entering the Seven Years’ War against Spain and Naples, Catherine II becoming empress of Russia, and the first St Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City,’ said Sotheby’s.

The Cognac was believed to have been bottled in the 1840s.

Nicknamed ‘grand frère’, it is the largest bottling of a trio, said Sotheby’s.

The smallest, known as ‘Petite Soeur’, is on display at Maison Gautier in Cognac, while the other – nicknamed ‘Petit Frère’ – was sold at auction in New York in 2014 for £48,000, the auction house said prior to its online sale.

The family who previously owned all three of the Cognacs wished to remain anonymous, it added.

The winning bidder will also get a bespoke trip to Maison Gautier, courtesy of the distillery.

See also: 

How does bidding at online wine auctions work?

Port from 1863 sets new world auction record

Sixty-year-old Macallan Scotch whisky sells for £1.5m

Two agreements to maintain the flow of wines and whiskies between the US and UK after Brexit have been signed by both countries.

US officials said that the two ‘continuity’ deals would ensure no disruption to trade in wine and spirits after the UK leaves the European Union, which remains set for 29 March amid ongoing political wrangling in London and Brussels.

Both deals were signed in Washington DC by the US chief agricultural negotiator, Gregg Doud, and the UK’s ambassador to the US, Kim Darroch.

The news follows a similar interim deal between the UK and Chile, and is another example of planning for a possible no-deal Brexit.

The UK is the fourth largest market for US wine exports by value, worth $227m in 2017, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which announced the trade continuity deals this week.

American whiskies have also grown in popularity in the UK, which was the top export market for US spirits in general in 2017, with shipments worth $187m.

‘The U.S.-UK agreement on trade in wine, which includes commitments regarding wine-making practices and labeling requirements, will ensure market continuity for bilateral wine trade,’ said the USTR’s office.

In spirits, names such as Scotch whisky and Bourbon will continue to enjoy protected status, it said.

The news came as the UK’s Wine & Spirit Trade Association highlighted the growth of American whiskies in the UK, despite a 25% tariff on imports imposed by the European Commission in 2018 in response to US steel tariffs.

‘In 2018, the equivalent of 27.6 million bottles of US whiskey were exported to the UK, which is more than double the amount sent here 10 years ago,’ said the WSTA.

It called on the UK government to suspend the 25% tariff after Brexit.

Many successful evenings of wine and food have been rounded off with a drop of grape-based spirit - not least at this time of year - but how much do you really know about them? Let's find out with the Decanter grape spirits quiz.

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Inside the Star Producer Focus sessions with Antonio Flores from González Byass and Paul Symington from Graham's Port at the Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter...

The evolution of Sherry 

‘I’m going to fly us from Shanghai to Jerez,’ said Antonio Flores, master blender at González Byass, opening his busy Star Producer Focus class at the Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter.

Flores took the class through the ‘five pillars of Jerez’; Albariz soil, grapes, biological ageing, oxidative ageing and the solera system.

The solera system is the blending of younger wines with more mature ones.

‘It is the idea that the younger wines take on some of the character of the older,’ said Flores.

The first five wines, all 2016, went from Tio Pepe, En Rama through to Fino Tres Palmas and the Amontillado Cuatro Palmas. These demonstrated the ageing process of Sherry.

‘We’ve had five wines today, but really we’ve just had one,’ said Flores.

The final wine was the Palo Cortado 1987, which was made not using the solera system, and is more like a traditional vintage wine.

‘This is the traditional way Sherry used to be made, rather than the solera system, in the 19th century.’

Most wineries have now abandoned this system, but Tio Pepe and a few others still carry it on, explained Flores.

This last wine was also a ‘handkerchief wine’, said Flores. He told the class to pour two drops on to a serviette, fold it up and put in their jacket pocket.

‘Then when life is getting a bit stressful, take out the serviette, smell the perfume on it and it will take you back to Jerez.’

The wines were:

Tio Pepe, En Rama 2016; Tio Pepe, Fino Una Palma 2016; Tio Pepe, Fino Dos Palmas 2016; Tio Pepe, Fino Tres Palmas 2016; Tio Pepe, Amontillado Cuatro Palmas 2016; Tio Pepe, Palo Cortado 1987

Sherry report by Ellie Douglas. 

Graham’s Tawny Port

Starting from the ‘delicate’ 10 Year Old Tawny, to the ‘more masculine’ 20 Year Old to the ‘most feminine and soft Graham’s port’—30 Year Old Tawny, Paul Symington, chairman of Symington Family Estates first invited the audience to discover and savour the ‘polished-gold-like’ style of Port.

The 1972 Single Harvest Tawny port was the next one up—‘this wine is made by my father and uncle when I was still at school,’ said Symington, highlighting that continuity of family ownership is key to port production, which, with the top-quality wines, need generations to complete.

Highlight: Graham’s, Ne Oublie Very Old Tawny Port 1882

With a short video, Symington took the audience to a journey back to the Douro Valley in the 19th century, when his great grandfather, then 18-year-old, arrived in Portugal from Scotland.

The arrival symbolises the beginning of a now-five-generation family business.

By 1920s the already well-established port producer decided to buy three barrels of wines made in 1882, the year when he arrived in Portugal.

It was only until last year did the Symington family decide to bottle one barrel of the three, leaving the rest two for the next generations.

The name ‘Ne Oublie (do not forget)’ is meant to remind the next generation to keep the family winemaking tradition going, which is ‘something we feel very strongly about’, said Symington.

The package of the precious 656 bottles of ‘Ne Oublie’ symbolises three elements of the family history: ‘The glass is from Portugal, the leather is English, and the silver is from Scotland’.

‘A real privilege for me, and I hope for all of you, to taste a wine made in the 19th century, and still alive, living, and giving pleasure in 2016,’ said the fourth-generation leader of Symington Family Estates, whose daughter, the first of the fifth generation, is now working along side him.

‘This is a wine speaking to us from over 100 years ago. It’s just a piece of magic and a piece of history.’

The wines were: Graham’s, 10 Year Old Tawny; Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny; Graham’s 30 Year Old Tawny; Graham’s Single Harvest 1972; Graham’s Ne Oublie Very Old Tawny 1882.

Graham’s report by Sylvia Wu, editor of DecanterChina.com. 

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A bottle of Cognac dating back to 1801 has sold for £220,000 at London's Hedonism wine shop, making it one of the most expensive Cognacs in the world.

The bottle of Massougnes 1801 Cognac was sold to a buyer from Asia, said David Baker, managing director of Hermitage Cognacs Ltd and Brandyclassics, which originally procured the bottle and first reported that it had been sold by Hedonism in London.

The Cognac’s £220,000 price tag (US$272,000) makes it easily one of the most expensive Cognacs in the world.

Hermitage Cognacs sold a bottle of Massougnes 1805 last year for around $230,000 – then £148,000 at 2015 exchange rates.

The Guinness Book of World Records said in 2011 that a bottle of Croizet Cuvée Léonie Cognac 1858 was the most expensive on the planet after it sold for the equivalent of £100,000 at an auction in Shanghai.

The Henry IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne has been known to sell for more than £1m, according to Brandyclassics. But, its ornate bottle made up the vast majority of the price, it said.

The Massougnes 1801, in an imperial three quarter gallon bottle, came from Marie-Antoinette des Allées, Comtesse de la Bourdelière and a direct descendant of Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine and their children, King Richard of England and King John, said Hermitage Cognacs, Baker said.

The Comtesse still lives in the Château on what remains of the Massougnes estate near Aigre in the Charente region of France.

Baker told Decanter.com, ‘The estate, or what remains of it, is very much falling apart but in its day was probably the largest Cognac producing estate in the Charente and I am told had around 360 hectares of vines.’

The opportunity to buy remaining Cognac from the estate is rare.

‘I only obtained those that I had through a good friend in Cognac who has from time to time looked after her,’ said Baker.

‘Despite my repeated efforts to get more of them the supply dried up about 10 years ago.

‘We have one remaining Massougnes 1805 of the same size as the one that was sold at Hedonism.’

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One of the most famous restaurants in Paris, La Tour d'Argent, is set to auction some of the rarest wine and spirits lying in its 50,000-bottle cellar, including a pre-French Revolution Cognac.

The La Tour d’Argent auction is scheduled for today (9 May) and includes a pre-French Revolution Grande Fine Clos du Griffier Cognac from 1788, as well as thousands of bespoke Riedel and Baccarat glasses and other objects. The Cognac alone was expected to fetch up to €20,000 (£15,850).

The Michelin one-star restaurant traces its origins to 1582. It was once owned by Napoleon’s personal chef and was parodied affectionately in Disney film Ratatouille.

The sale is one of several in recent years and helps make way for the restaurant’s refreshed branding and décor.

‘The bottles up for auction are as much a part of history as they are wines and spirits,’ said head sommelier David Ridgway, who has worked at La Tour d’Argent since 1981.

‘At a certain point, the price we have to charge for these in the restaurant is a bit obscene, and we pride ourselves on pricing our list very keenly,’ he told Decanter.com.

The sale features several lots of private-label Armagnac from 1875; Domaine de Semainville A. Camut Calvados du Pays d’Auge 1929; and Blandy Voal Madeira 1850, bottled in 1887.

Also of note among non-wine items: a Christofle silver duck presse, estimated to fetch €4,000 and used to make the restaurant’s signature canard au sang – a piece of culinary theatre served only in a handful of restaurants, including Otto’s in London.

Ridgway, who is working with newly hired chef Philippe Labbé to modernise the wine pairings for an updated menu, said of the older bottles up for auction, ‘The styles are different from what 21st century diners might be accustomed to.

‘The Cognacs and Armagnacs are purer, perhaps less rounded than what is being produced today.’

The total sale, organised by auctioneer Artcurial, is expected to achieve up to €500,000.

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Pre-Revolutionary Cognac under the hammer in second Tour d’Argent auction

A collection of ancient Cognacs, including a 1788 Clos de Griffier, goes under the hammer at Christie’s next month.

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Pre-revolutionary Cognac, great Bordeaux including a Cheval Blanc 1928, and other rareties are being auctioned in December as 18,000 bottles

Vintage wines and Cognac produced more than a Century ago are undervalued in the fine wine market, according to the director of the Oracle Paradis Wine Fund.

David Nathan-Maister (pictured) believes that prices for some ‘very old wines’ and Cognac will increase as fine wine collectors and buyers follow a ‘natural progression’, primarily from Bordeaux first-growths to Burgundy and then to older and more niche wines.

His comments come after the Oracle Paradis Wine Fund announced it has bought a 1781 Chateau Chalon, one of the oldest surviving white wines from vineyards in Jura, France. It paid EUR38,000 for one bottle, sourced from the private cellar of winemaker Jean Bourdy.

The deal is part of an investment strategy at Oracle Paradis to secure old vintages, which has so far included 19th Century Cognac, pre-1920s Tokai and now Chateau Chalon.

‘There are people who are going to go into those areas,’ said Nathan-Maister.

‘We’re very conscious of the fact that we’re not operating in the same wine investment market as that up to 2009,’ he told decanter.com.

He referred to the fall in prices for top Bordeaux over the past couple of years and the broad-based expectation that prices are likely to increase again at some point, but more slowly than before.

‘It makes sense to put part of our assets in traditional areas,’ he said. But, he added that older vintages remain undervalued and represent a good opportunity, because ‘our investors are in it for the long-term. They’re not looking to put GBP10,000 in and take it out within a year’.

In its first six months of operation, Oracle has raised its initial US$5m from just 12 investors, with those from the former

Soviet Union forming the biggest single group.

The group aims to increase its fund to $15m within the next 12 months, which is generally the minimum level at which institutional investors would consider getting involved.

Written by Chris Mercer

A bottle of pre-Revolutionary Cognac fetched more than four times its estimate at Christie's yesterday.

La Tour d’Argent Grande Champagne Cognac 1805 in the cellar at Tour d’Argent

The Vieux Cognac Grande Champagne Fine ‘Clos de Griffier’ Café Anglais 1788, realised £17,825 against an estimate of £3,000-£4,000.

The buyer was from Europe, Christie’s said. It said the price is not a record.

‘The estimate for the Clos du Griffier 1788 was based on estimates for similar bottles from that period. We would never base our estimates on a one-off price achieved by a competitor,’ a spokesperson for Christie’s said.

Another ancient bottle, Grande Champagne Cognac ‘La Tour d’Argent’ 1805, went for more than double its estimate, fetching £25,300.

The sale, which finishes today, Friday 14 December, started with 180 lots of ancient Cognacs, Armagnacs, rum, calvados, Port and marc, all from the cellars of the Parisian restaurant La Tour d’Argent.

Also in the sale are rare lots of fine wines including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace, Australia, Italy and elsewhere.

The sale takes place London with a simulcast link to Hong Kong, Asia and the United States.

Other highlights included a rare full case of magnums of Graham’s Port 1897, which realised £9,200.

‘These strong results confirm the buoyancy of the market for rare spirits with excellent provenance,’ Christie’s associate wine specialist Noah May said.

This is the second sale of La Tour d’Argent’s wines: in 2009 owner André Terrail sold 18,000 bottles for more than €1.5m at PIASA’s Salon Hoche in Paris in order to finance the purchase of newer vintages.

Terrail, the third-generation owner of Tour d’Argent, said at a pre-sale dinner at Christie’s earlier this week it was a ‘piece of French history’ being sold, adding that one of the reasons for culling the vast cellars of the restaurant was that older and rarer vintages such as the ancient Cognacs were seldom ordered by customers.

‘We do it to be able to buy more recent vintages and also so that the wines can be taken out and enjoyed by people who really appreciate them.’

Written by Adam Lechmere