US Controlled Brandies
We are used to seeing the ownership of French brandy houses moving to the Far East but recently, US controlled brandies are coming to the fore. US drinks group Sazerac has released a cognac named after Bernard Sazerac de Forge who founded his cognac house in 1782. Called Sazerac de Forge & Fils ‘Finest Original’ it is based on the original cognac and made from grape varieties used in the early 19th century. ‘Folle Blanche’ and ‘Colombard’ were popular during the pre-Phylloxera period and blending cognacs made from them is said to be responsible for the character of the new expression. The opportunity to move into the world of cognac production presumably came after the drinks group acquired Domaine Breuil de Segonzac in 2016. Another French brandy house was purchased recently by a US company when the founder of whiskey brand WhistlePig, acquired armagnac producer Maison Ryst Dupeyron. With the popularity of armagnac increasing all the time and cognac production struggling to meet demand these are shrewd acquisitions by the Americans.
The growth in generic cognac sales over the last quarter of a century has distracted from the single most important criteria in determining the quality of a cognac. The age, or to be precise, the barrel age of a cognac is the most important element of cognac quality, yet we so often fail to ask the age question. Currently there simply is not enough information on the bottle to make it interesting. Compare that to a single malt whisky where the label tells us its barrel age, who made it and even what barrel it was stored in. It is little wonder that single malts outsell cognacs by a factor of 10 : 1.
Over the years we have built many relationships with suppliers and friends in the Charente and particularly in Grande Champagne. Although it is some months since we have been able to travel to France, we still talk frequently to them by phone and they, like ourselves, are having to cope with the difficulties that the coronavirus has created this Spring. Cognac producers and bottlers are having to prove that they are producing to get paid as the French authorities are worried about the cost to the country. Talking to one organisation, their concern is the receipt of orders as much of their business comes from the Far East. However, they are delighted to have received their first orders from Taiwan and Japan. Delivering orders is another challenge as European distribution organisations are finding that crossing borders takes longer than usual. All the big houses are continuing to bottle and ship 
As most of you know, I spend a great deal of my time tasting 
The results are out! We entered 4 of our ever-expanding range of Grande Champagne cognacs into The Spirits Business Cognac Masters this year and came away with 2 x GOLD medals and 2 x MASTER medals. These could be our best results yet.
The level of Duty imposed on alcohol purchases is always a hot topic. Before the recent UK budget, a group of WSTA SMEs wrote to the chancellor asking for a 2% cut in order to help small British companies, like 
There cannot be a soul who has not been affected by the current coronavirus pandemic but the On Trade has been hit particularly hard. With pubs and restaurants closed worldwide their future is uncertain. A bitter blow, especially as the ONS recently reported that the number of pubs and bars operating in the UK rose last year for the first time in a decade. Here in the UK staff have been furloughed and emergency legislation has given all commercial properties a 3 month rent reprieve. In other attempts to keep the industry afloat, the WTSA called for the collection of alcohol duty to be suspended for 6 months and denounced the timing of the Scottish government’s move to introduce a bottle deposit return scheme. UK duty did not get suspended, but the government did add off-licences to the list of businesses deemed “essential” during the lockdown. One trader in Maryland is trying to keep service going by using its pet boxer dog to deliver orders to the public in the carpark. This follows the WHO advice that pets cannot carry the virus. We have certainly seen some ingenious ways to keep businesses running recently. We are all grateful to the many 
The basic ingredient is, of course, alcohol. For hand sanitisers to work against viruses, such as the Coronavirus, the alcohol content must be at least 60%. Ethanol alcohol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol), mixed with aloe vera gel are the basic ingredients but some hand gels also contain scented oils to make them more pleasant to use. Commercially, iso propyl alcohol (IPA), which is almost identical to ethanol alcohol, is used since it can be purchased at much higher strengths.
We are open for business as usual so you can send a special gift or birthday present to a loved one you cannot visit or treat yourself during this particularly difficult time at home. We have wonderful French