The house of Massougnes is no more, but in its day was the biggest supplier of cognac in the Charente. The house was famous as well, as it has always been owned by the French Noblesse. Brandyclassics have recently  acquired the last bottle of cognac from the estate, a 1810 Massougnes Cognac of  c 90cl, which is available for sale on our website. The family was and still is today directly related to King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine and their children, King Richard and John of England. Today, the last remaining descendant of the French true royal blood still lives… Read more

During our travels in Cognac we often come across and taste new products, this time it’s with a difference. Monteru ‘Eau de Vie No 1 Original’ is double distilled in the traditional manner, but from specific grape varietal wines. Intended to be complementary to cognac rather than to compete, there are a number of grape varieties to choose from. We’ve sampled the Merlot and Chardonnay. Light in colour and with a pleasant aroma that reflected the individual grape of the base wine, we were intrigued to see what flavours would be within. However, as sometimes happens, the anticipation was better… Read more

It is perhaps something of a rare treat to find a Borderies cognac, let alone a decent Borderies cognac. Most of the nutty and rich toffee eaux de vie are snapped up by Martell and Hennessy, who have always tried to get all there is from this tiny cru. Some of the cognacs produced here are legendary with their dark toffee and nutty flavours. The soil here has a more clay type structure with a shale layer, but the climate is probably more temperate than the Champagnes. The Hermitage 1914 Borderies Cognac has aged in oak for more than 70 years and… Read more

The Summer months are the best time of the year to consider the cool and refreshing Pineau des Charentes – a drink that has found favour with all those who taste the magical richness. There is no official record of how the drink first came about but the common belief is that it was first made in the sixteenth century. Legend has it that Pineau was created when a winemaker accidently dropped some grapes into a barrel which contained some brandy. The resulting taste after it had aged was found to be so good that it became a regular practice and… Read more

The House of Frapin, world famous for their cognacs, also produce a small range of perfumes and colognes.  Since the launch in 2002, their most popular product is 1270 – so named after the year when they commenced their wine and cognac production. But the family of Frapin are no strangers to this world; indeed, back in the 16th Century one of the descendants of the original Frapin family, Pierre Frapin was Apothecary to the king.  But today, with their niche range of perfumes and cognacs, the House of Frapin produces a quality range which has proved very popular amongst… Read more

Sales of cognac have risen 21 per cent in value to record levels. Sales figures to the end of July 2011 show that more than €2 billion worth of cognac has been sold in the previous 12 months.  This is mainly due to the huge rise in worldwide exports. Volume wise the increase is 11.5 per cent and stands at 161.5 million bottles. This means that in terms of value, cognac sales are at the highest point since appellation records began, and in terms of volume have almost reached the record breaking year to October 2007. The BNIC has, of… Read more

No history of the great and good would be complete without mentioning Unicoop, the Charente farmers co-operative for the wines and eaux de vie sold to so many negoçiants. “Good and great” are words not often associated with this vast building alongside the main road between Cognac and Jarnac. The building is recognisable by the name of its main brand, Cognac Prince Hubert de Polinac. But strangely enough the cognac brand it is best known for is Henri Mounier, a once famous cognac brand name taken over by the co-operative. The co-operative’s history is short and to say the least… Read more

It seems that the Russians are moving into Cognac as several growers and cognac houses have sold out to Russian interests. The latest to do so is Jacky Chat, whose 110 hectares of vines are divided into 18 plots over the communes of Beauvais sur Matha and Veraize et Migron. M. Chat sells all his eau de vie to Hennessy so does not have any under his own label. He started his business in 1963 with just 6 hectares and has gradually built it up from there. M. Chats let it be known a few months ago that he was… Read more

Tiffon is now owned by the ubiquitous Braastad family whose name has been synonymous with a number of cognac houses including Delamain, Bisquit, Courvoisier. In the start of the twentieth century Sverre Braastard moved from Gjovik in Norway to Cognac and joined the firm of Alexandre Biscuit. Biscuit was established nearly a hundred years earlier and was already well known as a prominent Grande Champagne producer. Whilst working for Bisquit Sverre met Edith Rousseau (the granddaughter of Médéric, who founded the House of Tiffon) ad they were married in 1919. The Tiffon firm developed under their leadership and by the 1940’s they… Read more

It is always difficult to highlight one of our own cognacs, but we believe rightly that all cognacs are reviewed under an equal status, no matter whose label is on the bottle. The 1999 was introduced initially as a first young vintage, but in 2009 it was decided that we needed to sell a 2000 as a more attractive vintage for 2010. We currently have about 600 bottles remaining, but at present the current saleable stock of the 2000 vintage is now less than 200 bottles after a Russian order has absorbed 150 of them! A new 2000 will be available… Read more