The Charente Scene – Bisquit Sold
Alexandre Bisquit established his famous cognac trading house in Jarnac in 1819. When his daughter married Adrien Dubouché in 1848, his son-in-law’s name was added to the firm. It remained in family hands until the mid-60s when it was sold to Paul Ricard. Latterly it was owned by Distell but earlier this year it was sold again, to the Campari group, for over 50 million Euros. In many ways the purchase of Bisquit Dubouché by M. Ricard was the start of the firm’s real growth. Not only did he buy the biggest chateau in the region, with more than 200 hectares of vines, he also built a massive distillery at Lignères which had 64 stills. Bisquit cognacs have quite a nutty and fruity style which is admired by many in the industry (compare with our Hermitage 20 yo GC Cognac). As with most of the medium to large-sized houses, their need for more cognacs grew over the years so they also buy in wine and ‘eau de vie’. What a shame that another cognac house has gone to one of the multi-faceted “sell it all” groups.
We were disappointed to read earlier this year that Cognac Renault has created ‘a new innovation – an expression specifically designed to pair with coffee’ – called Renault Avec. Quite simply this is not the case. Hermitage Cognac launched its 
Food pairing is all the rage right now, including with cognac. Hennessy have created a whole dining experience to enjoy their latest cognac blend with a 4-course meal. We never recommend doing this with vintage cognac but as a digestif, it does bring a special enjoyment. Some cognacs have complimentary flavours which go well with after dinner courses, such as 
The big cognac houses are well aware of the similarity of their products so the need to spice up their ranges is always evident. We have seen recently the efforts by some to add a cask finish to their cognacs; sherry casks have already been used by one house. But the latest craze is to try and produce a super XO cognac called XXO. Hennessy, who have the biggest sales of XO cognacs, have already launched an XXO in the Far East. They tried to register it as a Hennessy name thereby denying other houses the opportunity to use the term. Unsurprisingly, other cognac growers were far from happy but after debate, an agreement has been reached allowing anybody to use the term for their super XOs. Apparently, these new XXO cognacs will have to be aged for a minimum of 14 years. This seems a strange period to select since many of the smaller houses make XO cognacs up to 20 years old. It took a quarter of a century to change the XO definition from 6 to 10 years, perhaps it will take another 25 years to officially recognise this new, super appellation? It’s an interesting point since many years ago,
Vintage cocktails, made from rare and very old vintage cognac, are trending …… they are also extremely expensive! Interest began with the World’s most expensive cocktail which was created in 2012 and sold for £5500. It contained a 1788 Cognac, 1770 Liqueur and 1860 Orange Curacao. Similar concoctions can now be bought at the very best bars in the 
world for similarly handsome prices.
It’s been a very busy start to the year with interesting cognac events in the diary and the arrival of yet more new stock. Following the BNIC’s launch of a new brand identity for the cognac appellation, they organised a trade-only Tasting event in London. Very well attended, our 
With effect from 1 April 2018 any cognac classified as an XO must have been aged for a minimum of 10 years. This change of XO Definition means that in the case of a blend, which many are, the youngest cognac used must now be at least a decade old. This is a 4 year increase as previously only 6 years of ageing was sufficient for a cognac to qualify. Regulatory body, the BNIC, comments that the change is designed to extend the quality positioning of XO cognacs and align them with market reality (some 
Just arrived – 
Armagnacs are the earliest examples of distilled wines known in France. Traditionally they are made using the Folle grape although others, including Colombard, Ugni Blanc and even more recently, the Baco all contribute to its flavour. Initially distillations were on a pot still but by the 19th century the continuous still was more highly favoured. The distillation process of armagnac allows the spirit to be distilled at a much lower alcohol content range than that of its big brother cognac, produced 100 miles to the north. The lower range produces a greater fruitiness (but less refined) flavour in the spirit.
In many ways 
The firm of