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Author: Bev Appleton

Pineau is the taste of summer

Posted / in Learning about Brandy, News and tagged

Sitting outside on a warm, balmy evening is the perfect time to try Pineau des Charentes. Made in the cognac producing region of France, newly distilled eau de vie is mixed with grape juice before being aged. The result is a wonderfully fresh, fruity flavour and with an abv of 17 – 18%, it is perfect for every occasion. Serve cold as an aperitif, or a dessert wine, or if you’re looking for a longer drink, it is the ideal base for a summer cocktail – try our Pineau Royale recipe for something truly sumptuous. Most of our wonderful selection of white, rosé and red pineau have age statements and remember, the older the pineau, the more intense the flavour. So celebrate the warmer weather with a taste of summer with Pineau des Charentes – view the whole range here.

 

Original Gifts For Father’s Day

Posted / in News and tagged

Whether you’re buying for a father, grandfather, father-in-law or perhaps a first-time father, we have lots of original gifts from which you can choose.

Our vast range of cognacs, armagnacs and calvados all have age statements so you can buy one that matches his year of birth, or his age, or maybe the year that you were born – truly original gifts, creating wonderful memories this Father’s Day.

Exceptionally delicious, our pure, luxury cognacs, armagnacs and calvados are always an absolute joy to receive and a real pleasure to give, helping you convey your appreciation this Father’s Day.

You can view the whole range here and if you need any advice just give us a call on 01225 863988.

David on Technical Topics – The Colour of Cognac Part 1.

Posted / in Brandy Education, How to make Cognac and tagged

There is a long held view amongst cognac drinkers that the darker a cognac appears the longer it has been aged in the barrel and therefore the better and more valuable it is. There is, up to a point, some truth in this view since during the natural ageing process, the tannins in the wood add colour to the barrels’ contents.

Cognacs are aged in barrels made from one of two types of French oak, Limousin or Tronçais. The former comes from the Limousin forests north east of Angouleme and is a fairly wide grain oak whilst the latter, which is a closer grained wood, comes from near the Burgundy area of France. Clearly the wider grain oak allows greater penetration of the spirit into the wood and so enables a faster maturation.  For this reason the Limousin oak is the most commonly used.

Prior to use the oak barrels are toasted to remove any harmful tannins.  This can be done at different levels varying from quite light to heavy toasting.   The heavier a barrel is toasted the darker the cognac will be but as a consequence, it will have more bitterness to its flavour and this can take many years to disappear.  Most cognacs are kept in new barrels for a short period immediately after distillation before being transferred to old barrels where colouring occurs more slowly.  Barrel size also influences cognac colour since the smaller the barrel, the greater the surface area that can come into contact with the cognac.

The colour of cognac is a very technical subject but one thing is certain, colour is not necessarily an indicator of age.  Indeed we have some cognacs that have been stored in oak barrels for sixty or seventy years and retained a light colour.  A wonderful example is our Hermitage Réaux 65 Year Old.

Next month I will discuss how the colour can be altered artificially in order to create a false image.

If you would like to learn more about cognac and other brandies, subscribe to our newsletter here.

Old Brandy Bottle Valuation Service

Posted / in Brandy Bottle Reviews, Learning about Brandy, News and tagged

We are pleased to announce the introduction of our new Valuation Service. In response to an increasing number of requests for Old Brandy Bottle Valuations we have formalised the service that we offer.

If you would like to know more about the history and value of an old bottle of brandy, just send us the information requested on our Valuation Service page. You will then receive an indication of its worth – over or under £250 – and whether or not a detailed, historical valuation is recommended. If the latter is required you will be able to purchase your Valuation online.

Sometimes rare bottles can be worth substantial sums of money – take a look at our Very Old Cognacs.

If you would like to learn more about cognac and other brandies, subscribe to our newsletter here.

 

David on Technical Topics – How Long Does a Bottle of Cognac Last?

Posted / in Brandy Education, Learning about Brandy and tagged

It is surprising how many times we are asked this question.  The answer is, of course, completely different from wine, as the distillation process reduces it to a spirit. There is nothing in cognac which can effectively reduce its life providing air cannot get into the bottle and of course, the spirit cannot get out. Cognac bottles are sealed with a cork and a metal or plastic cap shrunk over the top. On some more expensive bottles a wax seal is used to ensure that the bottle is airtight.  Once a bottle has been opened, the level of cognac becomes significant.  The more air that is in the bottle, the more space there is into which the alcohol can escape.  It is the alcohol that preserves the flavour of the cognac so as the a.b.v. reduces, the flavour changes and eventually it will become undrinkable.  Bottles should not therefore be left containing just a small quantity of cognac nor stored above 25 °C.

The Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac tells us that all corks should be changed every ten years since the cork will taint the cognac in the bottle.  At Hermitage Cognacs our experience tells us that with modern corks there is no perceptible change in flavour of an unopened bottle of cognac after twenty years but we do advise that corks are changed at this point.  We also advise that with an opened bottle the cork should be replaced after pouring and the bottle should be stored in an upright position; otherwise the strong spirit will attack the cork and the flavour will be affected.

So, although the flavour of cognac can change over a long period of time, if stored correctly a half full bottle of cognac will not show any perceptible changes in quality for at least ten years.  Happy Cognac Drinking!

To read more Technical Topics go to our Brandy Education page.

David on Technical Topics – Hermitage, A Fine Brand of Cognac

Posted / in Brandy Education, News from the Brandy Houses and tagged ,

The other day we were discussing our corporate logo and I was wondering how many people have actually looked at it and studied its design?  The use of company logos by many organisations is really to distinguish themselves from other similar names or businesses.  In our case we have set out to achieve rather more than this as our logo represents a guarantee of quality. To understand this better we need to look at what each element of the logo represents.

The Hermitage Cognacs logo is based on some of the important features of the cognac industry.  In the middle is an oak barrel, the wood being represented by an oak tree.  Over the barrel is a Charentais alembic still head with its long swan’s neck coming from the top.  During the distillation process, the alcoholic steam escapes through this to a condenser where the steam is changed back into a liquid.

Many Cognaçais understand about ‘The Angels Share’ – the fine droplets of alcohol that escape into the atmosphere above the cellars where the valuable nectars are stored.  In our logo one of the angels holds a glass with ‘The Angels Share’ and the other holds the key to ‘Paradis’, the cellar where the finest and oldest cognacs are stored.

Lastly, the Latin inscription under the barrel reads “Adhuc hic Hesterna”.  This means “That of Yesterday is here Today” and is a fitting reference to top quality cognacs from a past era when quality was paramount to the distiller’s survival in his trade.

So, look out for the Hermitage Cognacs logo.  When you see it on the label you will know that you are buying the very finest quality cognac there is available.  You can read more about these wonderful cognacs here.

 

The Rise of the Single Estate Cognac – a 2015 Trend?

Posted / in Learning about Brandy, News and tagged ,

In January of this year we commented on Ed Bates’ presentation – ‘Cognac houses should be different, not follow the crowd’.  It is a view we have always held and now it seems that the Cognac Expert Blog concurs.  They predict that one of the trends of 2015 will be the rise of the Single Estate Cognac.  Recently advocated by Hine, with its newly released 2005 Cognac, it is highly likely that this trend of making the terroir the signature point of the cognac will become more widespread.  Single estate cognacs have distinctive characters and exceptional ones are produced by the best distillers who are able to combine specific viticulture, viniculture and complex ageing procedures.  These are the cognacs we have always sought for our Hermitage range; they are hand picked and we know precisely from where each one originates.

The Cognac Process – Part 13. Post War Prosperity

Posted / in The Cognac Process and tagged

The end of World War II ushered in nearly 30 years of increasing cognac prosperity. The body that was formed to monitor the quality and movement of cognac was known as the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC). It managed to greatly improve the relationship between growers and merchants and was, in turn, lubricated by their prosperity. The biggest changes came in the structure of the major firms. In 1947 Martell and Hennessy did not renew their partnership agreement. Martell remained independent and Hennessy merged with the Champagne firm, Moet & Chandon.  In 1971 these ‘Big Two’ houses became the ‘Big Four’ as Courvoisier and Remy Martin expanded – Courvoisier, which was established in the late 18th Century, had just been taken over by Hiram Walker and Remy Martin had grown rapidly without external input specialising, at the time, in Grande Champagne cognacs.

Now it is Hermitage Cognacs that specialise in cognacs from the premier cru.

Contemporary XO Cognac

Posted / in Brandy Bottle Reviews, News from the Brandy Houses, The Bottle Story and tagged

Cognac has long been the most traditional of spirits and so has its packaging.  It is the white spirits, such as gin and vodka, which have embraced more contemporary marketing through their advertisements, bottle shapes and labelling.  That is, until now.   Returning to their Norwegian roots, Braastad recently commissioned Snøhetta and Magne Furuholmen to design a new bottle and label for their latest cognac presentation.  Named simply Contemporary XO the sleek lines of the bottle and funky lettering epitomise minimalist Scandinavian style.  So will this original style appeal to the traditional cognac lover?  Only time will tell but one thing is for sure – the contents will not be as original.  Most XOs these days are a blend of many different cognacs that only have to be 6 years old.

We prefer to use more traditional bottle shapes such as ‘Exception’ and ‘Helios’ for our single estate cognacs.

Is Cognac Better Than Whisky?

Posted / in Brandy Education, Learning about Brandy, News, The History of Cognac and tagged

An impossible question to answer, it is of course down to personal taste, but we do have a few facts to consider.  Cognac is made from grapes and whisky from grain so cognac can develop a variety of fruitful aromas and flavours which whisky cannot.  Both spirits are aged in barrels and improve over time but cognac is the more complex, takes longer to produce and inevitably, is more expensive.  Additionally, it is double distilled and must be made in accordance with strict regulations.  Whisky can be produced anywhere in the world but cognac must come from the designated Cognac region in France.  In the mid nineteenth century cognac was the most popular spirit in Britain.  Today it is renewing this popularity with very modern ‘rapper’ ambassadors like Jay-Z and Snoop Dog advocating cognac in their music and their personal lives.  In comparison, whisky has always had its fair share of celebrity endorsements and the recent launch of Haig Club by David Beckham is no exception.  Medicinally it’s said that cognac is better for your heart than whisky and rarely results in a hangover – great benefits certainly but for us, the sheer depth and intensity of flavour, fruitiness, warmth and complexity means that cognac will always be the King of Spirits.

A really magical example is the Hermitage 43 year old Cognac, sold by Brandyclassics.

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