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A Story in Every Bottle – Very Old Cognacs

Posted in History, The History of Cognac and tagged

Cognacs produced before 1900 are very special indeed.  Extremely rare, each bottle has a unique history and flavour which can never be replicated.  Small quantities of cognac were aged in oak casks during this era and over the years, most of that stock has been consumed leaving very little in existence today.  The grapes and distillation methods used in the 19th century produced cognac with drier and more organic flavours.  These characteristics became unique to cognacs of the period as in 1871, the dreaded Phylloxera beetle killed off most of the vines.  It took years to replant with Phylloxera resistant vines and for the brandy industry to recover.  The consequent introduction of the Ugni Blanc grape changed the taste of cognac forever.

We take great care when sourcing our Very Old Cognacs to ensure quality and authenticity.  Many of them came from small, independent producers and negoçiants who are no longer in existence.  The bottles are often hand blown and have been stored for many years in Cognaçais cellars.  Each individual bottle is extremely precious; it has a flavour to savour and a story to tell – well worth the exclusive price tag.

Gifts for special occasions

Posted in News, Uncategorized and tagged

We pride ourselves at Brandyclassics in only selling the finest and oldest cognacs and armagnacs available.  These wonderful nectars have been carefully selected from single estate distillers and all are of vintage quality or have rigorous age statements, we know that they will make perfect presents for your special celebrations.   Whatever the occasion, be it a wedding anniversary, birthday or special celebration day, we have the perfect gift for you on our newly launched Occasion Gifts page.

Age statements and vintages are recognised by our discerning customers as providing extraordinary quality and individuality, unlike the generic, highly blended VS, VSOP and XO cognacs.  So, if you have a 30th Birthday or Anniversary coming up, celebrate in style with our beautifully smooth Hermitage 30 yo Reaux Vintage Cognac, aged in oak barrels for 30 years before bottling, or our fresh and elegant Chateau de Beaulon Vintage1983 distilled 30 years ago.  Brandyclassics has the ideal gift for every celebration.

 

Cognac Supplier to Hotels – The Hermitage Experience

Posted in News, Uncategorized and tagged

Brandyclassics supply to some of the finest hotels in the world.  Alexander House, Burj al Arab, Claridges, Lanesborough, Raffles and The Wellesley to name but a few buy our Hermitage Cognacs to provide their customers with a level of individuality that is unique to their exclusive client base.  As suppliers to hotels and restaurants we recognise the need to find cognacs, armagnacs and other brandies which have vintage and age significance so that customers can associate anniversaries, birthdays and events in their lives with pure, single estate cognacs and appropriate age statements.

When our customers buy Hermitage Cognacs they know that there are no better. They know that what they buy provides assurance to every one of their customers, not just in quality but in the knowledge that every customer will benefit from The Hermitage Experience, an experience unmatched by any other cognac.

If you are looking for a reliable cognac supplier to provide the very best for your hotel or restaurant, please call us on +44(0)1225 963988.  For many years we’ve been helping hotel and bar managers find rare, interesting and exceptional cognacs, armagnacs and calvados to delight their clients.

Vintage Armagnacs

Posted in How to make Armagnac, The History of Armagnac and tagged

The region around Condom in Gascony, known as Gers, is famous for its armagnacs and in particular vintage armagnacs. They are made using grapes similar to those used for making cognacs but by using a single or continuous distillation method. The distillation range is between 52 – 72 %abv which allows a greater fruitiness in the spirit, although usually at the expense of smoothness and refinement of the brandy.  In recent years it has become much more difficult to buy vintage armagnacs as there has been a huge demand for bottles with numbers on.  The armagnac market is only about one tenth the size of the cognac market which has created the demand for clients to buy rare armagnacs from the smaller producers who still have rare vintages for sale.

Rare Calvados

Posted in How to make Calvados, The History of Calvados and tagged

Although calvados can be dated back to Napoleonic times when it was used both as an anaesthetic and antiseptic in Napoleon’s navy, most calvados is relatively modern. However, you can still buy rare calvados which dates from the first half of the twentieth century. Calvados is made from a cidre which is produced from the apple orchards in Normandy.  Apples are not generally acidic enough to start the distillation and so most firms also combine a small quantity of an acidic pear known as a Perry Pear. It is for this reason that most young calvados carry a distinctive pear drop aroma but this will start to mellow after 10 or 12 years and provide a richer apple flavour. Calvados distilled before 1960 are considered as very rare and can therefore attract quite high prices.

Eau de vie (water of life) and eaux de vie (plural)

Posted in Brandy Education, Learning about Brandy and tagged

This is probably the most used term in the cognac industry since it covers the transformation of the wine to a brandy. Cognacs are double distilled, the first distillation will transform the wine to a cloudy liquid with a strength around 27-30 %abv and known as brouillis The second distillation transform the brouillis into a water clear and very strong (67-72 %abv) spirit we call eau de vie which is then aged in oak casks for many years.  The eau de vie gradually mellows and changes colour as a result of the chemical (tannins, lignins and hemi-cellulose) contact with the wood. This transformation of eau de vie into good cognac is very slow and can take many decades although most is diluted and sold young, using sugar syrups and caramel to hide the fiery nature of the spirit.

You can also buy ‘eaux de vie’ where various fruits have been added to the wines before distillation.  The resulting mixture can be sold as a clear fruit flavoured spirit such as Reserve Eau de Vie de Cerises – Kirsch . Most of these eaux de vie are produced in the Alsace region of France. They are not aged in oak like cognac since this would give them a colour.  In some cases they have macerated fruits added which produces a liqueur such as Doulce France – Liqueur de Framboise.  The fruit provides a much lower alcoholic strength and a distinctive and usually quite powerful flavour.

Numbers on Bottles (Age Statements) -The value in the bottle

Posted / in Brandy Education, Learning about Brandy, News and tagged

Throughout drinking history the age of a bottle’s content has always been contentious, in particular for wines and spirits where age can represent a substantial part of the bottle value. Defining the age of a cognac has, for the vast majority of companies, become all but impossible as they have to buy and blend as many as 3000 different cognacs to meet their sales requirements. To clarify the situation, a set of rules was created by the governing body of cognac, the Bureau National Interprofessionel de Cognac (BNIC). They require cognacs to be aged in oak casks for a specific period of time in order to fall into one of three categories. The youngest is the VS where cognacs must have been aged for more than two years before bottling. The second category is called VSOP where cognacs need to be more than 4 years old and the third category is Napoleon and XO, both of which must be more than 6 years old.

But cognac ages very slowly, especially when stored in the ideal conditions for the spirit, and it is this ageing process that gives it both colour and taste.  Perhaps even more significant is that depending on the region or cru where it is aged, some cognacs can take three or four times longer to acquire an acceptable quality. Cognacs from the Champagnes (Grande and Petit Champagne) may take as long as 50 to 80 years to reach the desired level of maturity and quality.  They have to be distilled at 70 degrees in the final distillation so the subsequent reduction in strength can be very slow and the flavour take time to develop. Additives are widely used by the big houses to improve the colour and to reduce the fiery nature of young spirits.

At Brandyclassics our policy is to only buy cognacs where we know the age and where, particularly with young cognacs, the flavour is not impaired by their youthful aging. We refer to ages, for example a 10 year old where the cognac has been aged in an oak cask for 10 years, and vintages, for example 1975 where the cognac was made in that year and can be any number of years old up to the bottling date. Once the cognac has been bottled, or in the case of some very old ones stored in bonbonnes for later bottling, the quality and taste of each cognac will not change, unless the cork is left out for a considerable period.

Of course, the value of the bottle of cognac with an age statement depends on a number of factors. Firstly, where the cognac comes from, if it is from the top cru, Grande Champagne then it will usually be of greater value than one from a lower cru, say Fins Bois or Bon Bois. Secondly, if the cognac is very old, it will have aged in cellars for a long time and that is expensive. Lastly, many vintage cognacs are in very short supply, particularly those that were made in the early 19th century.   For example where the cognac is very rare and has a story attached to it such as the Massougnes 1801 and 1805, the value can easily be between £10,000 and £150,000.  However, it is worth noting that with some younger cognacs the age of the cognac may be well short of the period between the date and the vintage on the bottle. So when buying old cognacs always try and establish the actual barrel age.  Hermitage Cognacs will always have a bottling date on the back label so that you can be sure how old the cognac is.

Hine Early Landed & Jarnac 1983 Cognac

Posted in Brandy Bottle Reviews, The Bottle Story and tagged

Hine Limited Edition 1983 cognac may well  be very good but there are serious doubts about it since the Early Landed version is kept in a cask in a UK cellar.  The Jarnac version, on the other hand, is allowed to mature naturally in permanently damp cellars next to the Charente River.  This tends to keep the barrels damp and the spirit in the barrel for far longer, providing a greater reaction between the spirit and the wood.  But whichever storage method is used, £285 or £360 is a lot of money to pay for a 1983 cognac when you can buy a Beaulon 1983 (cellar aged), for a little over £100.  Probably the low availability of vintage cognac contributes to the very high cost!

The Cognac Process – Part 5. Tradition and Quality

Posted / in The Cognac Process and tagged

The tradition of quality was slow to develop but was largely in keeping with the local temperament. During the 17th century the Champagnes, known today as the best growing areas, improved steadily and just as the region had produced the best grain, so too they produced the best grapes. By the time of the French Revolution the last areas devoted to growing grapes (the Borderies, an area of land just north of Cognac) had succumbed. Their sweet wines were much prized but a terrible frost in 1766 enabled their rivals in Sauternes, south of Bordeaux, to replace their offerings.

Even before the French Revolution the Cognaçais were not unduly hampered by feudal restrictions. After the death of King Francis 1 the Cognaçais were affected by religious wars. Jarnac, a few miles upstream, was a centre for Protestants, the scene of a crucial battle and later of Protestant redoubt which provided a natural link with the Huguenot mafia, so important for European trade. Even in the 18th century when the Protestants were not officially tolerated, the Cognaçais refused to help the authorities search them out. The region had become prosperous and socially homogeneous.

New stock – Old Spanish Brandies

Posted in Brandy Bottle Reviews, The Bottle Story and tagged

Our newly acquired Gran Duque d’Alba Spanish brandies have a fascinating history which explains their superior quality.  They were made by the Diez-Merito distillery and later sold to José-Maria Ruiz Mateos, having been kept untouched in casks for many years.  Unfortunately the company was eventually dissolved for failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes to the Spanish government, but not before these bottles had been sold to an Italian.  Both the Gran Reserva and the De Luxe Gran Reserva are therefore understood to be from around the turn of the 20th century, probably bottled in the 1960s giving them a barrel age of about 50 years.  These wonderful old brandies are not to be confused with later, much more unremarkable brandies bottled after 1983, although much of the packaging is similar.