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Category: News

The Ageing of Cognac Inspires Film

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100 YearsDirected by Robert Rodriguez, the appropriately named ‘100 Years’ envisages what Earth will be like a century from now.  The film was inspired by the cognac production process, where the best cognacs are aged in cellars, untouched, for decades, only to be enjoyed by a future generation.  So grapes that were harvested and distilled in 2015 will be left in oak barrels to age for up to 100 years.  Vintage cognacs are only bottled once they have reached their optimum maturation, which is usually when the next generation is in charge!  The film follows the same concept.  It has been placed in a bulletproof time-automated safe and guests have received exclusive invitations, for their descendants, to attend the premiere in 2115.  Presumably, the intention is that they will enjoy it with a 2015 vintage cognac!  Today you can enjoy other cognacs made over 100 years ago – try our Hermitage 1900, it was certainly worth waiting for!

Hermitage 1966 Grande Champagne Cognac

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Hermitage 1966 CognacThe New Year is traditionally the time to consider all things new – like the latest vintage from Hermitage Cognacs. It is 50 years since the Hermitage 1966 Grande Champagne Cognac was distilled. Aged to perfection in oak barrels, only a few bottles of this precious treasure remain. Rare, complex and with incredible balance, this cognac makes a fantastic gift for a 50 year old birthday or anniversary, or to commemorate something special that happened in 1966… like England winning the World Cup!

Indestructible bottle-carrying suitcase

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A virtually indestructible suitcase, with special inserts for bottles, goes on sale in the UK shortly for £229.  The hard shell with high density foam inners protects the bottles whilst in transit and no doubt ‘does what it says on the tin’.  Here at Brandyclassics though, we find that wrapping your bottles with woolly pullies and packing them in the middle of a stout case works just as well.  Think what a lovely bottle of cognac you could buy for £229 instead ….. like this A.E.Dor No 7 for instance!

Whole Bottle of Cognac Drunk Before Flying

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A Chinese woman reportedly downed a full bottle of XO cognac at a Beijing airport security control after being told that she could not take it on board.  Staff told her she was not allowed to carry the bottle in her hand luggage because it exceeded the 100ml limit and so, not wanting to waste the purchase, she apparently drank the entire contents.  This did not seem to help her cause any as she was then deemed too drunk to board the flight.  But looking on the plus side, at least she was probably too inebriated to taste most of it!

One of the few XOs we stock is certainly too good to be treated in this way – the Fontpinot is to be savoured and enjoyed.  View our whole range of luxury cognacs here.

Conviviality Retail Buys On Trade Wholesaler Matthew Clark

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A hindrance to the premium cognac market?

The owner of Bargain Booze, one of the UK’s largest off licence chains, is moving into the On Trade business with its recent purchase of Matthew Clark.  Bargain Booze is renowned for its cut price alcohol brands and has recently taken on Aldi in the direct comparison advertising stakes.  They have clearly set out to dominate the cheaper end of the alcohol market.  Matthew Clark has also had its cut price strategies providing cheap blended cognacs and spirits to the On Trade free of charge with accompanying orders.  Whilst very appealing to the recipients this is very disappointing for the customers who are looking for luxury cognacs with individuality.  It is little wonder that so many good quality cognacs are being (mis)guided into the mixer market and now sadly, as a result of this takeover, there will be even more inexperienced cognac distributors selling what is a very complex product.

Take a look at these luxury cognacs that should never be wasted in a cocktail!

World’s Most Expensive Cocktail

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Guinness Book of Records Entry – Was is a Fake?

A cocktail made in an Australian casino using 1858 Croizet Cognac was sold for £8,200 – earning it a place in The Guinness Book of Records.  Just prior to purchase, a $32M heist involving the original client, prohibited him from completing the transaction.  Desperately wanting the Record to be authorised, another casino regular was persuaded to stump up the cash on the understanding that it would be paid back afterwards!  So now the PR melee surrounding the Record has been replaced with one suggesting it is all a fake.  Extreme lengths to go to for a bit of publicity but more importantly, what were they doing putting 1858 cognac into a cocktail anyway?  Read more about these pre-Phylloxera cognacs here.

The Charente Scene – Autumn 2015

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Strange, in our last edition we commented how attitudes had changed in the Charente vineyards as the wet and cold weather had changed to warm and dry.  We went from doom and gloom to great optimism and indeed the current news on the harvest is that it will beat last year’s whopping 770,000 hl pure alcohol.  Many are predicting that it will exceed 800,000 hectolitres of pure alcohol or 112 million bottles at 40%.  So far so good but there is a problem.  It seems that the markets, especially those in the Far East and Russia, have not increased and some have dropped in their purchases of cognac.  Now we have more than we can sell and the growers are worried that the big houses will not buy their cognacs.  Guess what, its doom and gloom again over there!

Read more cognac industry news on our blog.

Premium Spirits preferred

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The William Grant & Sons Market Report looks closely at changing consumer habits following the recession and concludes that “Value is much more than just value for money; it is now measured as the value that the brand, product or service can provide the consumer.” The marketing director goes on to surmise that “The market is more polarised than ever and it is premium brands that can really take advantage of this trend.”  The value of premium spirits sold in the UK has increased by 14% this year which is five times more than the total spirits market.  The consumer is becoming more discerning, consciously choosing how to spend his disposable income rather than cost-cutting across the board.  Premium brands, like Hermitage Cognacs, that offer excellent quality with value for money are what the customer seeks.  Compare our quality and price with the competition, you will be pleasantly surprised. Hermitage 1999 Grande Champagne Cognac retails for only £45.54 – try it and see.

Brandyclassics News – Four Gold Medals

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Another great year at The Spirits Business Awards for Hermitage Cognacs as all four of ourGrand Master entrants were awarded GOLD medals.  Hermitage Provenance Grande Champagne 6 Year Old, 20 Year Old and 30 Year Old produced specifically for the export market all proved their worth.  In our ever growing premier collection, one of our latest vintage releases, Hermitage Chez Richon 2005 Grande Champagne was the fourth highly successful cognac.  Following on from our COGNAC GRAND MASTER AWARD 2014, this news could hardly have been better.  You can see the whole Hermitage range here.

A Great Name Disappears – A.E.Dor is no more.

Posted / in Famous Cognac Houses, News, News from the Brandy Houses and tagged ,

The firm A E Dor has been sold to the Cognac co-operative, Uni-Cognac, for an undisclosed sum. We understand that Uni-Cognac are keen to move into the Far East market and regard the Jarnac based firm of Dor as a significant name in the industry.

The firm had a number of owners including a relative, we believe the brother, of the French President Franҫois Mitterrand before it was bought by Odile and Jacques Riviere. Odile ran the firm and was highly regarded in the industry as a gifted blender.  She became one of the five best female blenders in the industry. Sadly Odile died in a motoring accident and Jacques was at a loss as to what to do with the firm as his knowledge was not in the same league as his wife’s. He offered the management to his daughter, a pharmacist, but she wasn’t interested and eventually his son, Pierre Antoine took on the management. Pierre knows little of the industry and sadly, the quality of the cognacs from the house have deteriorated.

A quarter of a century ago Brandyclassics took on the distribution of A.E.Dor Cognacs. As generic blends of their day they were highly regarded and their old Paradis is still one of the most famous cellars in the industry with its many bonbonnes of old pre-Phylloxera cognac. Now they have been sold to a co-operative, Odile will be turning in her grave.

We still stock a few of the best A.E.Dor cognacs, have a browse here.