Godet, An Historical Lesson

White Cognac from Coal

The pressure on cognac houses in the early noughties to sell greater quantities inspired some to try and produce a white or clear cognac. Of course this should not be possible as cognac must be aged in oak and the wood always imparts some colour and most of all flavour. Consequently, when Hennessy introduced a ‘white’ cognac it still had some colour. So, one of the oldest cognac houses, Godet, produced a plan to solve this problem by filtering their cognac through coal. The plan worked and they launched Antarctica as a ‘white’ cognac.  However, Cognac rules do not allow this as the cognac has not been made in the traditional way and the name Godet is associated with cognac. It now seems that the term ‘cognac’ has been dropped but it is still called Godet Antarctica. It is understood that heated discussions about the name continue between Godet, the BNIC and Customs. Rumours in Cognac suggest that the house may be put up for sale but Jacques Godet, the fourteenth head of the firm who conceived the idea after a trip to Antarctica, has recently handed control to his sons suggesting that this is unlikely in the near future.