Shipwrecked Cognac – 100 Years On
In 1917, SS Kyros set sail for St Petersburg from France. As it approached Sweden, the cargo ship was sunk by a German submarine UC58. For decades the ship was assumed lost but in 1999 it was discovered 77 metres below sea level having been damaged by fishing trawlers and trawl boards. It took 20 years to clear the shipwrecked vessel for exploration, but it was worth the wait as hidden inside were 50 cases of cognac from De Haartman & Co. An exciting and historical find from the time when Tsar Nicholas II was Emperor of Russia. It is difficult to estimate the current condition of the cognac as this will, in part, be dependent on the bottle seals (see this month’s Technical Topic). Interestingly, some bottles of 1890 champagne, which had spent over a century buried in wet chalk underground after a landslide, were recently opened. At the tasting they were deemed “still pleasant to drink” so maybe there is some hope for the turn-of-the-century cognac yet?
◊◊ Not only was 2019 a record year with the number of new Hermitage Cognac vintages that we took into stock, the range was also awarded an unprecedented number of GOLD Medals. The Winter 2019 medals were received from the Global Luxury Spirits Masters in November, for 
For more than a thousand years cork has been used for sealing wine and spirit bottles. It is a natural product harvested from cork trees which regrow their bark every nine years. It has been revered by traditional wine makers for centuries as the ideal seal. However, the cork seal is not quite so ideal for use with spirits as they can, over the years, degrade the cork. Eventually the cork will turn black and the exposed areas will become so damaged, the cork will drop into the bottle. It is for this reason that cognac producers always advise that bottles should never be laid down for storage. Corks are also porous and allow tiny quantities of air and spirit to pass through, thereby aiding evaporation. Cognac producers have long recognised this problem so today the quality of the seal is much improved. This has been achieved partly by the introduction of semi synthetic cork mixtures and partly by encasing the top of the bottle with some form of capping material.
To meet the ever growing demand for 
David Baker, Managing Director at Hermitage Cognacs, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of fine and rare cognacs, has noted a real upsurge in interest, demand and sales for 
After the festivities of Christmas and New Year’s Eve it is time to look to the year ahead, 2020.
A professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford, has said that “venues playing their music too loud are at risk of dulling diners’ taste buds”. He also revealed that “loud music can make it harder to discern a drink’s alcohol content, which may drive diners to buy more booze”. Perhaps certain restaurants are using music to alter diners’ moods – fast food restaurants are known for their high-octane soundtracks which encourage diners to eat quickly and leave. Fergus Henderson of St. John on the other hand has a no music policy at his Farringdon restaurant, and Nigella Lawson believes a thumping soundtrack is “utterly draining and drowns out the taste of the food”. Stephen Harris from The Sportsman probably has it right. He believes the key to a successful restaurant playlist is to pick songs that blend into the background rather than demand to be heard. That does sound like a much more enjoyable dining experience. Interestingly, we have previously reported that wine and spirits are described in a similar way to music, as they have different ‘notes’. 
A new release from Tiffon is the Tiffon 1995 Grande Champagne vintage. Tiffon, which dates back to 1875, is still a family run business based in Jarnac with the family home, Chateau de Triac, just 5 kms away. The Chateau, which was demolished in the Hundred Years’ War, is in Fins Bois, home to some of their 40 hectares of vines. They have other vineyards in Grande Champagne. This 1995 vintage comes from Grande Champagne and as with most 
The Norlan Glass is a transparent double walled vessel which creates a hollow body glass with a dramatically different inside shape to outside shape. The idea is to have a tumbler form, with an improved nosing glass performance. Certainly, the interior 
Charles Braastad, Managing Director of