Famous Cognac Houses

No history of the great and good would be complete without mentioning Unicoop, the Charente farmers co-operative for the wines and eaux de vie sold to so many negoçiants.
“Good and great” are words not often associated with this vast building alongside the main road between Cognac and Jarnac. The building is recognisable by the name [...]

Tiffon is now owned by the ubiquitous Braastad family whose name has been synonymous with a number of cognac houses including Delamain, Bisquit, Courvoisier.
In the start of the twentieth century Sverre Braastard moved from Gjovik in Norway to Cognac and joined the firm of Alexandre Biscuit. Biscuit was established nearly a hundred years earlier and was [...]

The Prunier family has been shipping cognacs since 1700.  The first member of the Prunier family to start the business was Jean Prunier (1665 – 1732). He was a freeman of the port of La Rochelle, which was the main shipping port for goods on the western coast of France. Jean Prunier was a renowned [...]

Louis Royer is probably better known now than it has ever been during its long life, as a result of its takeover by the giant Suntory organisation in Japan. The firm was started in 1853 by its founder Louis Royer. He was a chief blender at another cognac house and he decided to establish his [...]

Ragnaud Sabourin is the only known producer of cognac who still uses all eight permitted grape varieties. The main grape variety used in Cognac is the Ugni Blanc, which represents about 95% of all grapes used. Colombard and the old pre-phylloxera grape Folle Blanche are the second most used grapes, representing around 4.5% of the [...]

The Larsen brand of is probably known in every cognac drinking country for their Viking Ship logo. The firm was established in 1926 by Jens Reidar Larsen who came from Tromso, north of the arctic circle in Norway. The firm are quick to point out that the term Viking refers to a state of mind rather [...]

Hine is one of the most venerable and deservedly respected names in Cognac. It was founded by an immigrant from Dorset, Thomas Hine, who settled in Jarnac in 1791 and married into the Delamain family and became a partner.
The Hine company was founded in 1817 by Thomas who died aged 47. He was succeeded by [...]

Perhaps we best know of Hardy Cognacs for their very old pre-phylloxera cognacs such as the famous 1805, but the firm has prospered in America with more generic cognacs and some special presentations bottles.
The firm was started in 1863 by Anthony Hardy, a wines and spirits trader in London. He moved to the Charente region [...]

Otard is one of Cognacs most famous names, thanks partly to it’s ownership of the 16th century Château de Cognac, which deservedly is the town's most famous historic monument, as well as being ideal for the maturing brandy.
The firm was founded in 1795 by Jean Dupuy, a local grower and Jean-Antoine Otard de la Grange [...]

Perhaps the name of Jean Fillioux is not quite in the same league as Delamain or Hine, but whatever one wants to believe they do have a history which can be associated with equally great esteem.
They were founded in 1880 by Honoré Fillioux, who had in the past blended cognacs for Hennessy, a tradition which [...]