The Good & Great Cognac Houses – Otard

Otard is one of Cognacs most famous names, thanks partly to it’s ownership of the 16th century Château de Cognac, which deservedly is the town’s most famous historic monument, as well as being ideal for the maturing brandy.

The firm was founded in 1795 by Jean Dupuy, a local grower and Jean-Antoine Otard de la Grange, a local land owner who had to be rescued by his tenants from the Revolutionary Terror. He was the descendant of a leading Scottish family devoted to the failing fortunes of the House of Stuart, whom they followed into exile in France. Otard and Dupuy flourished sufficiently to buy the château and become one of Cognac’s ‘Big Three’ in the early 19th century (M Otard’s town house is now the town hall).

In the early 20th century the family “became more interested in public and social life than in Business” according to M de Ramefort, whose family bought the firm in 1930. His predecessors had relied too heavily on the Latin American market, and when their competitors began to sell their brandies in bottles under their own names, they declared “we are not grocers”. The firm has never owned any vineyards or stills: however, it’s VSOP Baron Otard helped its reputation in the 1970’s with its distinctive black bottle. In 1975 they bought Exshaw, a well know firm which was founded in 1805 but had dwindled into insignificance by 1945 and whose main markets were in the UK.

Otard was bought in 1986 by Bass, the British Brewing Company after a period in which the Rameforts shared control with St Raphael (the aperitif company controlled by Martini which bought back the company in 1989). Since then Otard has acted as the spearhead of the group’s various cognac interests, which also include Exshaw and Chateau de la Grange – a cognac which is sold mainly in the Asian markets and Far East. The current cognac range now contains considerable levels of sugar syrup to help hide their youthfulness.