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Did You Know? Early Brandy History

Posted / in Learning about Brandy and tagged

Very few of us are aware that French Brandies have a long history, indeed they are some of the oldest distilled spirits. Here are a few facts for your next bar quiz..

  • 1411 First brandy, as we now know it, distilled in Armagnac, mainly for farmers.
  • 1494 Francois 1 is born in Cognac and later allows traders to use the Charente river to ship salt to the ports.
  • 1549 First Brandy appears in Cognac, a merchant from La Rochelle produced four casks of “good cognac”.
  • 1643 Philippe Augier founds first cognac house, Augier Freres. 1678 Cogniack Brandy is mentioned in the London Gazette..
  • 1696 Louis XIV grants Frapin Family high aristocratic status. 1715 Jean Martell arrives in Cognac from Jersey.
  • 1724 Paul-Emilie Remy Martin and his father start Remy Martin. 1725 Isaac Ranson starts a trading house in Cognac.
  • 1762 James Delamain becomes a partner of Ranson Delamain.
  • 1765 James Hennessy from Ireland starts trading Cognac Hennessy
  • 1795 James Hennessy marries Marthe Martell. Otard Dupuy started.
  • 1797 Thomas Hine and Elisabeth Delamain marry
  • 1817 First use of classification VOP-very old pale and VSOP used

More to follow next month!