Brandy, or perhaps to be more precise, cognac, has become the official tipple of Christmas in most of Europe since the early 19th century. Perhaps it is worth noting that of all the European countries to take it on board, Britain has taken more of the sublime liquid than any other. The Irish too have championed various brandies, Richard Hennessy being the most renowned purveyor. In past years cognac has never really reached the same dizzy heights as the malted spirits that now dominate the shelves of the supermarkets.  Christmas is usually the only time the bottle of cognac is retrieved from back of… Read more

What a year!!  Not only have we received an unprecedented number of Gold and Gold Outstanding medals for our Hermitage Cognacs but our latest presentation, the Marie Louise Decanter, has just been declared ‘Best Cognac in Show 2018’ at The Spirits Business Cognac Masters 2018 out of over 130 entrants.  This amazing news follows hot on the heels of the IWSC 2018 Awards where we were also short listed for ‘Brandy Producer of the Year’. This astonishing Marie Louise creation has been described as “lining one’s mouth with velvet” and is a precious and rare investment.  At 43% abv it… Read more

We all know that every cognac is a brandy but not every brandy is a cognac, well most of us do, but what different brandies are there out there and what are they like? Well, cognac is the finest of them all and the best known.  It must be made in line with all sorts of regulations to ensure that quality is maintained and that it is properly distilled and aged. The other well-known French brandies are armagnac and calvados.  Armagnac is distilled on a continuous still as a single distillation and tends to be quite fruity in flavour.  Calvados… Read more

Wow, that is an impressive name for an armagnac, but what does it actually mean?  The Chabot vintage, 1998 is the year the grapes used to make the armagnac were harvested.  By regulation, distillation of these grapes would have been completed by the following March (1999) when it became Compte (Aged) 0.  Therefore, on 1 April 2000 it became Aged 1 and so in 2018, this armagnac was Aged 19 years.  An interesting fact as it was released this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong Airport.  Vintage armagnacs will be aged in a number of casks (each… Read more

Calvados really is the finest example of apple brandy so it is a mystery that it isn’t more popular.  Traditionally rustic, being based on the common old farmyard apple rather than the noble grape, perhaps it is too old fashioned for the influential trendsetters?  And what about geography?  Normandy is poorer and more rural than the elitist areas of Champagne and Cognac. The region staged countless wars and its fields are the final resting place of thousands of young men.  But the trend is gradually changing.  New calvados embassies are opening across the world. Indeed, official figures show that in… Read more

Following the magnificent export results for 2017 -2018, the BNIC agreed a rather high rate of harvest for the production of cognac this year at 14.64 hectolitres of alcohol pure per hectare of vineyard.  In essence, this means that cognac producers in the Charente have been allowed to produce more cognac this year than is usual.    The dry summer that followed the spring hailstorms was a godsend and the harvest has been fantastic.  So good in fact the farmers are finding that they do not have sufficient wine tanks to hold all the eau de vie!   Not only that, the… Read more

1805 Cognac Massougnes fetches over £200,000 through London fine wine merchant Hedonism Wines Hermitage Cognacs have provided one of the most expensive bottles of cognac ever sold in the UK, which has just been sold by London Fine Wine merchant, Hedonism Wines, for over £200,000.  The imperial three-quarter gallon bottle of Cognac Massougnes was acquired by Hermitage Cognacs some 20 years ago from Marie-Antoinette des Allées, Comtesse de la Bourdelière, whose family owns the former Cognac producing estate. Hermitage Managing Director David Baker takes up the story: “In over 30 years of buying and selling cognac, this 1805 is one… Read more

We are very pleased to introduce our new Office Manager, John Walley.  After a full Army career and a spell working in the Far East, he has chosen to settle in Wiltshire and join our team.  A keen sportsman, John is already enjoying the wonderful golf courses and premiership rugby this area has to offer.  Pictured on his introductory tour of the Charente, John is inspecting this summer’s fantastic grape harvest, before meeting many of our French friends and colleagues.    

William Grant & Son’s latest Market Report has identified a change in customer behaviour.  The new ‘Active-ist Consumer’ is described as ‘purposeful, connected and empowered’.  According to the Report there is a new breed of digitally-sophisticated, socially-conscious, and sustainability-expectant people who use their collective consumer power to generate change at scale and with purpose and at an increasingly fast pace.  Digital sophistication allows consumers to source their own news, leading to demands for brand transparency and the desire for brands to engage with ethical issues.  Such behaviour was clearly visible following the airing of Planet Earth 2 in 2016 when… Read more

For the fourth consecutive year cognac exports are up, according to recent figures published by the BNIC.  Volume sales were up by 8.2% (205 million bottles were shipped) and this equated to an increase of 5.4% by value (€3.2bn).  The largest market continues to be the US where demand still increases annually.  Exceptional increases in demand have been seen in the Far East with China leading the way.  “These strong results confirm the lasting appetite of the Chinese for Cognac, even as the market is still stabilising,” noted the BNIC President.  Shipments to the UK remaining stable at 10.8 billion,… Read more