We are delighted to welcome Freddie Lawrence as the new National Accounts Manager of our trade arm, Bunch & Bushel.  ~ Freddie has been working in hospitality for over thirteen years, ten of which have been spent selling premium & ultra-premium brands into the UK on and off trade. ~ Having just finished his induction at our Headquarters in Wiltshire and French Company in Segonzac, he is really looking forward to seeing all our loyal trade customers and meeting new ones, to introduce them to our Hermitage Cognacs and other premium craft spirits. ~ In his spare time Freddie enjoys… Read more

Here at Brandyclassics and Bunch & Bushel we sell three main types of French brandy: cognac, armagnac and calvados. Brandy is the generic name for spirits that have been made from fruit and produced all over the world.  But some brandies have very specific guidelines concerning their production.  So what is the difference between our products?  This can be summarised as follows: COGNAC Made from specific grape varieties Produced in the Cognac region of France only The eau de vie must be distilled twice Distilled in copper pot Charentais stills. ARMAGNAC Made from specific grape varieties Produced in the Armagnac region… Read more

It’s been a difficult time, financially, for everyone this year as prices increase. With energy prices soaring and raw material shortages across the globe, all our producers are struggling with increased costs. Unfortunately, these increased costs have inevitably been passed on to us and so we have had to review our prices too. Our new prices will, therefore, come into effect on Monday 25th July. So, if you have some summer birthday gifts to buy, now’s the time to do it!

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

Two years ago we posted the story below about 100 year old shipwrecked cognac that had been raised from the sea bed wondering if it would still be drinkable …. Well it appears not as 300 of the bottles are about to go on sale, for £9,000 each, filled with a different cognac from the same period.  Cognac house Birkedal Hartmann, descendants of De Haartman, painstakingly cleaned the one litre bottles and filled them with Grande Champagne Cognac from 1910-15.  Using company archives they reproduced the original corks, capsules and labels and presented them in a handmade gift box also containing its… Read more

The Spirits Business have just announced their top 10 award-winning cognacs and Hermitage appear in the list three times with their 10 Year Old, 1975 and 1972.  Spirits Business comments are thus: For those looking for a single estate Cognac to spend a relaxing evening with, the Hermitage 10 Year Old Grande Champagne Cognac is the one to opt for, according to judge Bryan Rodriguez, wine and spirits buyer at Harvey Nichols.  He said: “I thought this was fabulous. I can see myself putting it into a balloon glass and just nosing it, and relaxing for half an hour.”  Having been double… Read more

Gifts for all the men in your life … Buying gifts for Father’s Day is a notorious problem, but for those who enjoy a glass of something special we have the answer: Delicious, handpicked, single estate Hermitage Cognacs with age statements.  Almost 50% of the range are award-winning and after decades of ageing in oak barrels each one has unique, complex flavours. Vintage Armagnacs from the top Bas cru.  Packaged with the year of harvesting on the label, we have every vintage from 1928 to 2004.  Ideal for selecting a special anniversary or year of birth. Pays d’Auge Calvados is the best and ours… Read more

Yet another alcohol related special day occurs this Saturday; it is World Gin Day.  According to the website its purpose is: ‘Simple, it’s a day for everyone and anyone (over the legal drinking age of course…!) to celebrate and enjoy gin! Whether you’re already a fan of the juniper spirit, or looking for an intro, World Gin Day is the perfect opportunity to get involved.’ And World Gin Day has been going for a while now: ‘World Gin Day itself was actually founded by Neil Houston in 2009, a very bright idea to bring his friends together to drink gin… Read more

National Cognac Day on June 4th invites you to enjoy one of the finest alcoholic drinks available. Cognac, which originates from a town of the same name in France, is a type of brandy enjoyed because of its distilled and fine taste.  Cognac begins as a white wine that has been produced in one of six designated growing regions.  This definition explains the axiom ‘ all cognac is brandy but not all brandy is cognac’.  Ironically, the white wine from which cognac starts, is considered by most wine connoisseurs to be entirely undrinkable.  But once it has been distilled in an alembic still and… Read more

The first World Aperitivo Day will be rolled out on a global basis on 26 May 2022, but what exactly is an aperitivo? The Italian tradition of Aperitivo dates back over 2000 years, and is a ritual observed across the Peninsula.  Italians know how to relax as the sun goes down and get ready for dinner with friends or family – they sip an aperitivo.  The word comes from the Latin aperire “to open” meaning, in this case, to open the appetite for the meal to come.  It’s a pre-dinner drink, usually low in alcohol and accompanied by small snacks such as olives… Read more