Category: News

Various spirits have enjoyed a revamping of their image in recent years as cocktail culture continues to evolve, but what about cognac? It still tends to conjure up one of two images. The first is of an older gentleman in a suit, sitting in an overstuffed leather chair next to the fire with a large snifter. The second involves a whole lot of bling and rap music, thanks to the various rappers who have claimed cognac as their signature beverage. But what about influencing those outside of these two somewhat polarised groups? Even cocktail consultant Jordan Watson does not believe… Read more

Very much as expected, the grape harvest in 2015 is producing one of the best and biggest quantities of distilled spirit ever.  It looks like the total will be well over 800,000hl, indicating a record year.  Despite this, many distillers are fearful of a new demand on cognac from export markets, especially the USA where a record 4.3 million cases (51.6 million bottles) were sold last year. The US market is predominantly led by Hennessy whose share is 67%, the majority of which is of VS quality.  It has been made popular by influential rappers such as Nas and Jay-Z… Read more

According to the regulatory body representing Armagnac producers, the BNIA (Bureau National Interprofessionnel l’Armagnac), Armagnac distillation started on 8 October, the earliest date in living memory.  Favourable weather conditions in the spring got the vines off to a good start.  This was followed by a very hot July, and then the “right” amount of rain in August, which helped to speed up grape maturation.  As a consequence, harvesting started two weeks earlier than usual on 10 September.  “It is important to harvest early as the producers are looking for wines that are high in acidity and low in alcohol for… Read more

Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the appropriately named ‘100 Years’ envisages what Earth will be like a century from now.  The film was inspired by the cognac production process, where the best cognacs are aged in cellars, untouched, for decades, only to be enjoyed by a future generation.  So grapes that were harvested and distilled in 2015 will be left in oak barrels to age for up to 100 years.  Vintage cognacs are only bottled once they have reached their optimum maturation, which is usually when the next generation is in charge!  The film follows the same concept.  It has been… Read more

The New Year is traditionally the time to consider all things new – like the latest vintage from Hermitage Cognacs. It is 50 years since the Hermitage 1966 Grande Champagne Cognac was distilled. Aged to perfection in oak barrels, only a few bottles of this precious treasure remain. Rare, complex and with incredible balance, this cognac makes a fantastic gift for a 50 year old birthday or anniversary, or to commemorate something special that happened in 1966… like England winning the World Cup!

  A virtually indestructible suitcase, with special inserts for bottles, goes on sale in the UK shortly for £229.  The hard shell with high density foam inners protects the bottles whilst in transit and no doubt ‘does what it says on the tin’.  Here at Brandyclassics though, we find that wrapping your bottles with woolly pullies and packing them in the middle of a stout case works just as well.  Think what a lovely bottle of cognac you could buy for £229 instead ….. like this A.E.Dor No 7 for instance!

A Chinese woman reportedly downed a full bottle of XO cognac at a Beijing airport security control after being told that she could not take it on board.  Staff told her she was not allowed to carry the bottle in her hand luggage because it exceeded the 100ml limit and so, not wanting to waste the purchase, she apparently drank the entire contents.  This did not seem to help her cause any as she was then deemed too drunk to board the flight.  But looking on the plus side, at least she was probably too inebriated to taste most of… Read more

A hindrance to the premium cognac market? The owner of Bargain Booze, one of the UK’s largest off licence chains, is moving into the On Trade business with its recent purchase of Matthew Clark.  Bargain Booze is renowned for its cut price alcohol brands and has recently taken on Aldi in the direct comparison advertising stakes.  They have clearly set out to dominate the cheaper end of the alcohol market.  Matthew Clark has also had its cut price strategies providing cheap blended cognacs and spirits to the On Trade free of charge with accompanying orders.  Whilst very appealing to the… Read more

Guinness Book of Records Entry – Was is a Fake? A cocktail made in an Australian casino using 1858 Croizet Cognac was sold for £8,200 – earning it a place in The Guinness Book of Records.  Just prior to purchase, a $32M heist involving the original client, prohibited him from completing the transaction.  Desperately wanting the Record to be authorised, another casino regular was persuaded to stump up the cash on the understanding that it would be paid back afterwards!  So now the PR melee surrounding the Record has been replaced with one suggesting it is all a fake.  Extreme… Read more

Strange, in our last edition we commented how attitudes had changed in the Charente vineyards as the wet and cold weather had changed to warm and dry.  We went from doom and gloom to great optimism and indeed the current news on the harvest is that it will beat last year’s whopping 770,000 hl pure alcohol.  Many are predicting that it will exceed 800,000 hectolitres of pure alcohol or 112 million bottles at 40%.  So far so good but there is a problem.  It seems that the markets, especially those in the Far East and Russia, have not increased and… Read more