About Brandyclassics
Brandyclassics are purveyors of the finest French brandies – including Cognac, Armagnac, and Calvados – alongside other luxury spirits. The perfect gifting solution for birthdays and anniversaries. A treasure trove for collectors and discerning connoisseurs. Delivery is available across the UK and internationally.
With a heritage steeped in quality and authenticity, Brandyclassics is dedicated to offering exceptional aged spirits that embody sophistication and craftsmanship. Brandyclassics has been meticulously curated to cater to those with refined palates and an appreciation for the rarest of finds.
As a premier luxury spirits retailer, Brandyclassics is the definitive destination for gifting. Each bottle tells a story—of tradition, heritage, and the mastery of distillation—making them perfect for marking life’s most significant moments. Whether as a thoughtful present for a milestone occasion or an investment in a rare and distinguished spirit, Brandyclassics ensures every selection is both meaningful and of unparalleled quality.
With an unwavering commitment to authenticity and excellence, Brandyclassics provides customers with a seamless shopping experience, offering expert guidance on choosing the perfect bottle. Every product is sourced with care, ensuring that only the finest, most prestigious brandies and luxury spirits reach their clientele.
Brandyclassics Founder
David Baker, the visionary behind Brandyclassics, which is an umbrella brand of Hermitage Cognac, has nurtured a profound passion for fine spirits since his youth.
Introduced to the world of wine by his music teacher, David found himself captivated not by melodies, but by the intricate symphony of flavours found in each bottle. This early fascination sparked a growing obsession that would eventually lead him away from music and into the sophisticated realm of cognac.
With an almost photographic memory for taste and style, David has dedicated himself to uncovering the hidden gems of the cognac world.
Recognising a significant gap in the luxury market, he saw that well-established individuals often struggled to find authentic, rare, and investment-worthy cognacs amidst a sea of commercial brands. His genuine passion lies in sourcing exceptional aged cognacs, particularly those from old private cellars. In a landscape filled with counterfeit concerns, David searches for small holdings of cognac that have eluded the grasp of major producers, often resting in old private cellars for decades or even centuries. These extraordinarily rare spirits offer unparalleled complexity and depth. This pursuit has earned him the title of a “brandy archaeologist,” as he unearths cognacs that are as much historical artefacts as they are exquisite examples of fine craftsmanship.
“David Baker at Brandyclassics is a brandy gumshoe, a man with the years of experience, immaculate palate and network of contacts that makes it possible for him to hunt out rare and special casks of cognac. On his website you can find many fine vintage cognacs.”
Victoria Moore, The Daily Telegraph
Hermitage Cognac
Brandyclassics is an umbrella brand of Hermitage Cognac, both owned by David Baker. Hermitage Cognac offers more than just a spirit—it provides a solution for discerning collectors seeking rare, investment-worthy, luxury cognac.
Specialising in distinguished vintage cognacs from a past era, Hermitage Cognac brings an exclusive selection of cognacs that capture the elegance of heritage and time. These rare, unblended offerings reflect the history and artistry of Grande Champagne, with each bottle representing a unique chapter of the region’s legacy.
From age-stated and Paradis Vintage cognacs to exclusive vintage releases, Hermitage Cognac sources directly from private, family-owned cellars. Every bottle is fully transparent, offering assurance of authenticity, provenance, and unrivalled quality in a market where such qualities can often be hard to find. This commitment to integrity provides collectors with peace of mind—knowing each purchase is not only a genuine, investment-worthy treasure but also a timeless expression of craftsmanship.
Investing in cognac has become an attractive alternative asset class, offering unique advantages over traditional investments. Unlike whisky, which is often bottled younger and blended, cognac’s stringent production laws ensure superior ageing potential and rarity.
Find out more about cognac investment here.
“Hermitage Cognac is dedicated to ferreting out rare, single-estate cognacs from under-the-radar producers …….. if you want to witness how beautifully a cognac can age, Hermitage is the place to go.”
Alice Lascelles, Financial Times
Nicholas Faith 1933 – 2018
Nick, journalist & leading author of many cognac books has been a regular visitor to Brandyclassics over the years tasting the many cognacs in the range. This is what Nick had to say about Brandyclassics.
“Most cognac lovers mourn the fact that four firms account for seven out of eight bottles of the precious liquid sold in the world. But it doesn’t worry me, because the bigger the firms the more room there is for the little ‘uns, provided of course that they’re good little-uns and as the author of the standard work on Cognac I spend most of my time hunting out the best of them. And David Baker’s Brandyclassics is both small and good. He’s been in love with cognac for decades and has spent the past twenty years searching out some of the hoards of fine brandies owned by growers (or brokers or small merchants for that matter) too selective to see their precious casks transformed into just one of the hundreds of ingredients in the more expensive brandies offered by the Big Four.
But they trust David to provide their brandies with a better fate: as individual examples in the unique Hermitage range he has developed. For every one of his offerings comes from a single grower, usually in the Grande Champagne – though he’s not afraid to offer the best brandies from other regions like the Borderies and Fins Bois – which are often the contents of a single cask. What is more – and something I greatly appreciate – he’s choosy, he firmly rejects most of the brandies he’s offered and, rarest of all, he knows his suppliers well enough to guarantee the age statement on their bottles. This can be before the arrival of the phylloxera bug or as late as the end of the 20th century.”
Nicholas Faith, Author of Cognac: The story of the world’s greatest brandy