The Fall of Menuet Cognac – A Sad Tale

Chinese customs officials have recently uncovered more than US$29m of smuggled spirits and here is the story behind the news ….. More than twenty years ago, in our quest to find top quality Grande Champagne cognacs, we stumbled upon a cognac house called Menuet. You may have seen their cognacs on our web site, the 50 year old was a particular star. Sadly, the firm became embroiled in financial difficulties and because we understood both the firm and others around, we were able to assist by finding another organisation which could provide support. Menuet recovered its position and continued to sell in international markets. In due course however, the owner decided to sell the company to a Chinese named Mr Yang – he used the Menuet brand name to sell brandies in bulk to China, seemingly without paying duty or tax. Apparently, he mixed small quantities of cognac with huge volumes of cheap grape brandy. That is, until it was discovered recently by Chinese customs ….. What is really upsetting about this story is that a highly respected name, that once supplied some of the finest cognacs we have tasted, has been ruined by an unscrupulous Chinese operator prepared to supply cheap brandy in Cognac 1er cru bottles.