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Category: News

Negroni Week 3 – 9 October 2022

Posted / in Cocktails, Cocktails, News and tagged , , , ,

NegroniNegroni Week was originally scheduled to take place on 12-18 September brand but it will now take place in the UK on 3-9 October 2022.  The aperitivo brand, Campari, put all marketing activities in the UK on hold in the days following the Queen’s death on 8 September, including the week-long annual celebration of the Italian cocktail.

Brad Madigan, managing director, commented “Whilst it felt appropriate to postpone Negroni Week in the UK, out of respect for Her Majesty the Queen, we are looking forward to being able to celebrate the landmark occasion of the 10-year anniversary with lovers of this cocktail across the country.”  Over the past decade, this special week has raised more than US$3 million for charitable organisations.

Our classic Negroni recipe is:

Parcelforce Possible Disruption to Services

Posted / in News and tagged , ,

Parcelforce

 

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called on its members, including Parcelforce, who collect, sort and deliver parcels and mail to take strike action on the following dates:

  • – Thursday 13th, Thursday 20th & Tuesday 25th October 2022
  • – Thursday 24th, Friday 25th & Wednesday 30th November 2022
  • – Thursday 1st December 2022

Parcelforce has well-developed contingency plans and will be doing all they can to keep services running, but we should expect some disruption on the strike dates.

Please place your orders as early as possible in advance of the strike dates.

The Drinks Business – Boutique Cognac Houses

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

Boutique Cognac HousesRichard Woodward writing in The Drinks Business last week, about Boutique Cognac Houses, names Hermitage Cognac as an independent bottler focused on the highest quality:

“Cognac has close to 80,000 hectares of vineyard … cultivated by some 4,000 growers …  . Twenty years ago, there were 8,000 vignerons in Cognac, illustrating a growing professionalism as small landowners exit the industry.

That picture of consolidation extends to brand owners, with Cognac’s “big four” – Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier – accounting for more than 80% of global consumption. That leaves little space for smaller operations, but a number of boutique houses still carve out a niche for themselves, pitching their artisanal credentials against the might of that dominant quartet.

Most growers sell the vast majority of their production to big houses, but many still bottle their own Cognac as well. The best of these are the hidden gems of the region – growers such as Château Montifaud, Jean Fillioux and Michel Forgeron, or David Baker’s Hermitage Cognacs – an independent bottler focused on the highest quality.”

Read the complete article here.

Occasion Gifts for those Special Years

Posted / in News and tagged , , , , , ,

Occasion Gifts

Our Gift Idea Page is brimming with suggestions for birthday and anniversary gifts, or indeed to recognise any special year of the last century.

We have cognacs with age statements that have spent decades developing their unique flavours in oak casks.

Every anniversary decade, from the 10th to the 70th, and a few more besides, is represented by wonderful liquids in beautiful presentations.

And we have vintage brandies for every year from 1928 to 2004.

It’s always special to recognise a specific year of birth, or inauguration, so finding a cognac, armagnac or calvados that was distilled the same year is the perfect gift.

To see our full list of Occasion Gifts go to our Gift Ideas Page.

State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen

Posted / in News and tagged , , , ,

The Queen~

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We are deeply saddened by the recent death of Her Majesty The Queen and send our condolences to the Royal family.

On Monday 19th September 2022 our offices will be closed so that we can join the nation in paying our respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

We will be raising a toast to thank her for 70 years of dedicated service to this nation and the wider Commonwealth.

May she rest in peace.

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Delicious Dessert with La Grande Josiane

Posted / in News, Recipes and tagged , , , ,

DessertHere we share a delicious Panna Cotta dessert recipe from our friends at Bordeneuve.  Using their fabulous orange armagnac liqueur, La Grande Josiane, this recipe serves 5/6 people.

Panna Cotta à La Grande Josiane

– 500ml double cream
– 50g caster sugar
– 3 leaves of gelatine
– 80ml La Grande Josiane
– 150g dark chocolate

1. Soften the gelatine in cold water
2. Heat the cream and sugar in a pan until just boiling
3. Remove from heat and, whilst whisking continuously, add the drained gelatine, and La Grande Josiane
4. Pour the mixture into ramekins
5. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours
6. 20 minutes before serving, melt the chocolate in a bain marie
7. Pour the melted chocolate over the panna cotta and allow to set
8. Decorate with slices of orange and a nicely chilled glass of La Grande Josiane

Calvados, The Modern, Sustainable Spirit

Posted in News, News from the Brandy Houses and tagged , , , , ,

spiritCalvados has long been the underdog of French spirits.  “Even in France, people quite liked it, but the image was dusty and old fashioned,” says Xavier d’Audiffret Pasquier, co-founder of Maison Sassy. “Our mission is to bring calvados back to life. We want to almost promote calvados like a gin, as a very modern spirit.”

Outside France, calvados has always been popular was the bartending community.  Tim Etherington-Judge says “First, it’s delicious. It has a very approachable flavour profile, not complex like a mezcal. But also, as a cocktail nerd, if you go back to some of the historical cocktail books, like The Savoy Cocktail Book or The Flowing Bowl, calvados is a regularly used ingredient.”  Coupette is a calvados bar in London that is helping to introduce the spirit to a new generation of fans.  Their most famous cocktail creation is named Apples, and the recipe is simple.  Each month a different calvados is mixed with the juice from a different variety of apple and carbonated. The result is stunning and in 2019 was named Cocktail of the Year.

The scope for calvados to continue to modernise is immense now that every spirit brand aims to brag about is sustainability credentials.  In a 2021 report by Business Wire, 85% of people indicated they had shifted their purchase behaviour to be more sustainable in the last five years.  There is no doubt that calvados has a case for being the world’s most sustainable spirit. This is what Etherington-Judge set out to create and Avallen was the result.  “We went right back to the raw materials that are used to create alcohols and instead of using the usual metrics of cost and flavour, we put the environment first. Based on four metrics – carbon emissions, biodiversity, water consumption and pesticide and fertiliser use – we analysed the ingredients and that research led us to apples.  The trees are carbon sinks, they support biodiversity in the traditional orchards of Normandy, there is no artificial irrigation, and there’s very little pesticide and fertiliser use within the orchard. From an environmental perspective, the orchards of Normandy are fantastic.”

We at Brandyclassics have searched high and low to find an exceptional calvados brand to champion and the result is Toutain.  Full of appley flavours, it’s the best we have ever tasted.

Read the full article on Modernising Calvados, written in Drinks International here.

Cognacs With Age Statements

Posted / in Brandy Bottle Reviews, News, News from the Brandy Houses and tagged , , , , , ,

Age StatementsCognac house Maison Bache Gabrielsen has released a new series of cognacs with age statements called Years in Cask.  Good to see them following in our footsteps!  These cognacs are also vintages so by definition they must be single estate and cannot be blended.  Once vintage cognacs have reached their optimum maturity they are transferred to glass bonbonnes where they will mature no further.

Bache Gabrielsen have released 4 new cognacs aged from 19 to 37 years.  The younger two come from Grande Champagne, the top cru, where cognacs take the longest to mature whilst the older two come from Fin Bois, a lesser known cru.  Their prices range from £163 to £344 for a 70cl bottle with abvs being between 40 and 47 percent.  It is great to see another cognac house heralding the benefits of age statement and vintage cognac but before you part with your hard earned cash to try them out, take a look at the quality and price of the following, produced by Hermitage:

New National Accounts Manager – Freddie Lawrence

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Freddie

We are delighted to welcome Freddie Lawrence as the new National Accounts Manager of our trade arm, Bunch & Bushel. 

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Freddie has been working in hospitality for over thirteen years, ten of which have been spent selling premium & ultra-premium brands into the UK on and off trade.

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Having just finished his induction at our Headquarters in Wiltshire and French Company in Segonzac, he is really looking forward to seeing all our loyal trade customers and meeting new ones, to introduce them to our Hermitage Cognacs and other premium craft spirits.

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In his spare time Freddie enjoys socialising with family and friends and sampling fine cuisine.  His latest claim to fame is being on the group backing vocals of George Ezra’s latest single, Green, Green Grass!

Different Types of Brandy

Posted / in Brandy Education, Learning about Brandy, News and tagged , , , , ,

Here at Brandyclassics and Bunch & Bushel we sell three main types of French brandy: cognac, armagnac and calvados.

Brandy is the generic name for spirits that have been made from fruit and produced all over the world.  But some brandies have very specific guidelines concerning their production.  So what is the difference between our products?  This can be summarised as follows:

brandyCOGNAC

  • Made from specific grape varieties
  • Produced in the Cognac region of France only
  • The eau de vie must be distilled twice
  • Distilled in copper pot Charentais stills.

ARMAGNAC

  • Made from specific grape varieties
  • Produced in the Armagnac region of France only
  • The eau de vie is distilled just once
  • Produced on a continuous Alembic still

CALVADOS

  • Made from apples
  • Produced in the Calvados region in Normandy
  • Top cru calvados must use the double distillation method on a pot still to be labelled Pays d’Auge
  • Column still distillation is mandatory to produce Calvados Domfrontais

Read more about the production of these wonderful French brandies on our Brandy Education page.  Another useful article outlining the differences between 12 types of brandy can be found here.