Bartenders Champion Old Vintage Cognac

Vintage cocktails, made from rare and very old vintage cognac, are trending …… they are also extremely expensive!  Interest began with the World’s most expensive cocktail which was created in 2012 and sold for £5500.  It contained a 1788 Cognac, 1770 Liqueur and 1860 Orange Curacao.  Similar concoctions can now be bought at the very best bars in the world for similarly handsome prices.

Cheltenham Festival also followed suit this year producing a cocktail containing 1937 Delord Armagnac, in memory of Golden Miller, Gold Cup winner 1932 – 1936.

Very old (pre-Phylloxera) cognacs and Armagnacs are, by definition, incredibly rare but those that design these hedonistic cocktail treats feel that they are essential components, creating complexity and length not found in today’s spirits.  These qualities are the very reason most would hopefully choose to drink them unadulterated – but single shots of very old vintage brandies do not come cheap either.  Last month the world’s most expensive cognac measure (40 ml) was sold for £10,000.  Perhaps not as unreasonable as it sounds when some of our very old cognac bottles retail at over £20,000 each.  Value is generated not only by the quality of the cognac itself, but in the story of its provenance too.