Category: History

We were fascinated to read an interview with Bénédicte Hardy in ‘Frenchly’.  Bénédicte is the fifth generation to be involved with the House of Hardy cognacs, although much of her time has been spent working in the US. Entitled ‘Cognac’s return to Grace’, she describes the rich history of cognac and how in recent years, cognac has evolved into a symbol of both ‘rap stardom’ and ‘highbrow mixology’.  Here at Hermitage, it is that history that we aim to bottle and so a summary follows: In the 17th century, it was English, Irish, and Dutch négociants who really put cognac on the map… Read more

We were delighted to welcome Paddy Shave from Brightwells Auction House to our offices a few weeks ago.  He brought with him an imperial half gallon (2.27 litres) bottle of Massougnes 1802 Cognac which had passed through our hands almost thirty years ago.  We are fortunate to have acquired a number of these large bottles over the years from the owner of the Massougnes Estate, the Comtesse de la Bourdeliere, Marie-Antoinette Pintaurd des Allees – a direct descendant of Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine.  This particular bottle from 1802 in the Napoleonic era, was originally sold by us to… Read more

We are always excited by a new arrival, especially when it is one from the nineteenth century!  Our Hermitage Paradis1890 Grande Champagne Cognac is the fourth addition to our Paradis range and has just taken pride of place on our shelves.  To add some historical context, 1890 was the year that England witnessed the first official County Cricket match when Yorkshire beat Gloucestershire by 8 wickets. This remarkable cognac has spent more than 80 years in its oak cask slowly developing its rich aromas and complex flavours. There are aromas of marmalade, thyme, banana and spices with a rich and lovely complexity… Read more

A bottle of 1762 Cognac by Gautier was sold at auction recently for a record breaking £118,580.  Thought to be the world’s oldest cognac, only one other bottle of this vintage now exists.  The bottles’ history can be traced back to the 1880s when they were acquired by the Donsir family.  The family adopted a son, Alphonse, who in 1870, went to find work in the cognac vineyards.  Over the next decade the Phylloxera outbreak decimated European vines so, when work dried up Alphonse returned home.  As the vineyard was financially ruined, he was paid in cognac, including 3 bottles… Read more

During the years after the gold rush in the 1850s, brandy became the most popular spirit in Australia. French companies were quick to seize the opportunity and in 1870 Prunier opened a branch there.   A loyal following for the brand was built by their salesman, Émigré Ambroise Lamande.  He lived in Melbourne with his pet kangaroo and it is this marsupial that is thought to have been the inspiration behind Maresté’s poster and 1929 advertising film.  Reputed to be the first cinema advertisement for cognac ever made, it featured a cartoon kangaroo discovering cases of cognac washed up on a… Read more

M Restaurant has announced that it is to sell its bottle of 1894 cognac for over £6000 for a 25ml shot – that’s the price of cognac history.  The bottle is reputedly the first blend ever produced by Jean Fillioux, who founded the Fillioux cognac house.  Snippets of history such as this are often priceless in the cognac world.  Over the years we have sold many such historically important bottles to luxury hotels in London.  The ultimate in super-premium spirits, these too have been sold by the measure for thousands of pounds.  But to command this sort of price tag,… Read more

During the 18th Century smuggling in Cornwall was a way of life.  It is said that at its peak, more than 500,000 gallons of French brandy was smuggled in per year.  This equates to more than two million bottles. Whole families were involved and the number of smugglers far outweighed the number of Excise men stationed along the coast to stop them. There was a strong incentive to continue since the cost of buying brandy legally, with Alcohol Duty paid, was five times greater than the cost of the contraband.  It was often the case that even the judiciary, doctors… Read more

During the war years the Cognaçais were required to provide the Germans with large quantities of brandy. They cheated of course by shipping spirits made from root vegetables thus maintaining their stocks of real cognac. It was during this period that Maurice Hennessy and a well known grower, Pierre Verneuil, followed the example of the growers in the Champagne region and created the wine and eaux-de-vie distribution bureau to preserve the cognac stock. When the war ended this organisation emerged as the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), cognac’s governing body.  Composed equally of growers and merchants, the BNIC acquired a great… Read more

A unique collection of ‘Presidential Spirits’ was put up for auction in New York recently. The Lot comprised 39 bottles of cognac and armagnac each dating to a US Presidential term of office from 1789 to 1977. Part of a larger Dutch collection, the Lot included cognacs from 1789 (George Washington), 1842 (John Tyler) and 1865 (Abraham Lincoln). The US Presidential connection with cognac comes from events throughout history. The Marquis de Lafayette brought cognac when he crossed the Atlantic to assist George Washington in America’s fight for Independence and Thomas Jefferson developed an appreciation for cognac when witnessing the… Read more

Brandy has been the traditional spirit of Christmas since the sixteenth century and was immortalised by Dickens in Mrs Cratchit’s Christmas pudding, “blazing in half of half a quarter of ignited brandy”. But it is said that cognac was recognised in 1540 after a Chevalier du Maron took two casks of newly reduced or distilled wine to a local monastery near La Rochelle. The monks tasted one of them and found it to be fiery and tasteless so left the other cask unopened. Many years later they found the unopened cask, the contents of which had matured and were very… Read more