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Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise is 70 Years Old

Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise is a Grande Champagne cognac from one of the region’s top artisan producers. Still in cask, it is now a magnificent 70 years old.

Some of the finest cognacs ever made were produced in the early twentieth century as, by this time, knowledge of distillation and the ageing process had been significantly refined. Cognac Marie Louise is one of the few remaining cognacs produced during this period. It is from the top cru, Grande Champagne and has matured for more than 70 years in oak casks.

This truly great cognac is named after Marie Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Boneparte. She bore his son who was given the title ‘Roi de Rome’ and who later became Napoleon II.

One litre of this glorious cognac is offered in crystal decanters produced by Cumbria Crystal, the last producer of completely hand-blown and hand-cut, full-lead luxury English crystal in the UK.

The complex aromas, intensity and depth of flavours created by its careful distillation and ageing have created a masterpiece of smoothness. The initial sensation is akin to lining one’s mouth with velvet. The rich and complex flavours of coffee, sultanas, toffee brittle, truffle, dried fig, cinnamon, hazelnut and clove are all wrapped up in an intensely rich rancio found only in the rarest of cognacs.

Only a few people will be privileged to taste this exceptional and rare cognac. Those that do will be delighted by the charm and elegance of Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise, made all those years ago.

“Likely to be one of the finest cognacs you have tasted.”  Victoria Moore, The Saturday Telegraph Luxury Supplement

National Cognac Day Sunday 4th June 2023

National Cognac DayWe love to celebrate National Cognac Day!  This year it’s on Sunday 4th June so if you have a bottle you keep for special occasions or fancy trying something new for the first time, this is time to do it!

Cognac, which originates from a town of the same name in France, is a type of brandy, the generic name for spirits that have been made from fruit.  It begins life as a white wine, that has been produced in one of six designated growing regions, and is then distilled in an alembic still and aged in oak casks for years.

Cognac’s production is a science and indeed an art.  If the drink is new to you, here are some handy links to find out more about it:

The other very important factor you need to know is that most cognacs are blended.  This is essential to produce large quantities of a product, that always tastes the same.

But, here at Hermitage we do it differently.  Our cognacs are not blended, they come from Single Estates and each one has unique and identifiable flavours.  So, if you really want to try something new, Hermitage is the place to go.  Each bottle will tell you how many years the cognac has been in the barrel and if it’s a vintage, the year the grapes were harvested.  Enjoy!!

Hermitage Paradis 1875 Cognac

1875 cognacWe are very excited to introduce a new cognac to our shelves, and our Hermitage Paradis range, the 1875 vintage.  Only a few bottles remain of this old 1875 cognac which originally came from a cellar near Bouteville, in the cru now known as Grande Champagne.  It was distilled on a very small still and then aged for more than 75 years in a cellar built against a limestone cutting.  The cellar floor and walls were natural, with no cement or concrete, which made it ideal for ageing old cognacs.

The production of cognacs in the 18th and 19th centuries was a way of farming the land that growers owned. At the time these cognacs were made, there were perhaps more than 1500 different growers in the region, each making their wines, distilling them and putting them into cellars to age in oak casks. The skills employed had been handed down from generations before them.  Not every brandy which the growers produced was of a quality that stood out as being truly exceptional but now and again a cognac would be sufficiently good to be kept to one side and stored for the future. The year that the cognac was made was always recorded with a chalk mark on the barrel.

 

We understand that this cognac was removed from cask and placed in bonbonnes between 1950 and 1955, making it 75 – 80 years old.  Our tasting notes confirm that the cognac has developed a significant rancio consistent with very long cask ageing.  Specific tasting notes can be found here.

The Drinks Business – Boutique Cognac Houses

Boutique Cognac HousesRichard Woodward writing in The Drinks Business last week, about Boutique Cognac Houses, names Hermitage Cognac as an independent bottler focused on the highest quality:

“Cognac has close to 80,000 hectares of vineyard … cultivated by some 4,000 growers …  . Twenty years ago, there were 8,000 vignerons in Cognac, illustrating a growing professionalism as small landowners exit the industry.

That picture of consolidation extends to brand owners, with Cognac’s “big four” – Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier – accounting for more than 80% of global consumption. That leaves little space for smaller operations, but a number of boutique houses still carve out a niche for themselves, pitching their artisanal credentials against the might of that dominant quartet.

Most growers sell the vast majority of their production to big houses, but many still bottle their own Cognac as well. The best of these are the hidden gems of the region – growers such as Château Montifaud, Jean Fillioux and Michel Forgeron, or David Baker’s Hermitage Cognacs – an independent bottler focused on the highest quality.”

Read the complete article here.

New National Accounts Manager – Freddie Lawrence

Freddie

We are delighted to welcome Freddie Lawrence as the new National Accounts Manager of our trade arm, Bunch & Bushel. 

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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.

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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.

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In his spare time Freddie enjoys socialising with family and friends and sampling fine cuisine.  His latest claim to fame is being on the group backing vocals of George Ezra’s latest single, Green, Green Grass!

Spirits Business Top Ten Award-Winning Cognacs

award-winning CognacsThe 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 distilled on a small Charentais Alembic still to help concentrate the wine flavours during distillation, it offers notes of spice and coffee with a gentle underlying hint of pineapple.

Both of the Masters medals awarded in the Vintage Single Estate category went to Hermitage, the first for its 1972 Petite Champagne Cognac and the second for its 1975 Grande Champagne Cognac expression.  Having both spent close to four decades ageing in Limousin oak casks, the judges were impressed with the 1975’s “roasted walnut and chocolate whip aroma” and “magnificent” palate, while its 1972 Petite Champagne Cognac was celebrated for its “well rounded combination of fruit, sweetness and spice.”

Read the full article here.

National Cognac Day – Saturday 4th June 2022

National Cognac Day 2022National 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 aged in oak casks for years, it is absolutely delicious.

Cognac comes in multiple grades and exploring them can be a great way to spend National Cognac Day.   At the entry level cognac is great for making cocktails such as the Sidecar or French Connection.  At the  other end of the spectrum, single estate, unblended, vintage cognacs should be savoured, every sip enjoyed for its individuality and complex flavours.  Hermitage specialise in producing cognacs with numbers on the bottles so you know exactly what you’re buying and each one is unique.  National Cognac Day is the perfect opportunity to get to know one of the world’s most premium drinks.

Hermitage Cognacs toast four Master awards at Global Cognac Masters 2022

Cognac Masters 2022We are thrilled to announce that the Cognac Masters 2022 results have just been released and it was an exceptional medal haul for Hermitage.

A Master Medal was awarded to all four entrants, providing the best set of results for Hermitage ever.  These latest winners are:

Hermitage 10 Year Old Grande Champagne Cognac.  Judge’s comments: Candied orange aromas. Really nice texture to this Cognac, hints of spice and rich fruitiness. Very sippable actually, would also be ideal for mixing.

Hermitage 25 Year Old Grande Champagne Cognac.  Judges’ comments: Superbly expressive nose with rancio, cedar wood and sandalwood, followed by deep dark dried fruits – raisins, prunes, sultanas – milk choc, vanilla, delicious juicy peach and plump sultana, deep woody spices add wonderful earthy notes, long finish that keeps going.

Hermitage 1975 Grande Champagne Cognac.   Judges’ comments: Very resinous palate, dry tannins, slightly saline. Hint of bitterness, stone fruits.

Hermitage 1972 Petite Champagne Cognac  Judges’ comments: Well-rounded palate- some citrus mid-palate, lifts everything. Nice combo of fruit, sweetness and spice – higher ABV holds well. Complex and well balanced.

The MD, David Baker, said

“We are really thrilled by this unprecedented recognition for our brandies. We work incredibly hard to source the very best cognacs we can find in the region, always from single estates and with age statements attached to them, and this is a tremendous reward for our efforts.  It also demonstrates that it’s possible to have exceptional quality, even in the more modest ranges such as with our 10 year old Grande Champagne (which won Master in the the VSOP – single estate flight).”

Read more about the competition results here:    The Cognac Masters 2022 results – The Spirits Business

Hermitage 1972 on The Drinking Hour

Hermitage 1972Another mention for David Baker and Hermitage Cognacs, including Hermitage 1972, on David Kermode’s podcast, The Drinking Hour.  In Episode 54 David interviews Joel Harrison, IWSC judge and writer, about cognac, how it’s made and the production situation.  About 35 minutes in, Joel refers to our very own David Baker as “the Indiana Jones of Cognac” and of Hermitage Cognacs as being “ridiculously well-priced”.  He goes on to say that “anything that David Baker is bottling is great” and when asked for his favourite cognacs he describes Hermitage as “Brilliant stuff at fantastic value”.

Towards the end of the podcast (at 49 mins) David Kermode recommends some of the IWSC winners.  Talking about our Hermitage 1972 Petite Champagne Cognac the judges described it as having “a sensationally aromatic nose with a balance of sweetness and acidity noteworthy of its age, integrated wood, spicy concentration and mildly drying tanins on the cigar hungry finish”. And David commented that in a terrible year for wine this would make the perfect 50th present for someone.  Too true!

Listen to the podcast here:

The Drinking Hour: With David Kermode – FoodFM: Episode 54 – Cognac on Apple Podcasts

 

Latest Hermitage Releases

HermitageWe have recently added two new, exciting releases to our Hermitage Cognac stable, both distilled over 50 years ago.

The 1975 comes from the region near St Preuil, in central Grande Champagne.

An enchanting cognac, it has flavours of clove, turmeric and blackberry complemented by thyme, rosemary, pork crackle with white truffle and kumquats on the tail.

Less than a barrel of this fine, rare cognac exists.

The 1972 vintage comes from Petite Champagne where it has been mellowing in its oak cask for almost 40 years and although its strength is 45% abv, it has a sublime balance.

Petite Champagne cognacs are often lighter than cognacs from their neighbour, Grande Champagne.

This is particularly true in the east of the cru, from where this 1972 originates.