Hermitage Paradis 1875 Cognac
We are very excited to introduce a new cognac to our shelves, and our Hermitage Paradis range, the 1875 vintage. Only a few bottles remain of this old 1875 cognac which originally came from a cellar near Bouteville, in the cru now known as Grande Champagne. It was distilled on a very small still and then aged for more than 75 years in a cellar built against a limestone cutting. The cellar floor and walls were natural, with no cement or concrete, which made it ideal for ageing old cognacs.
The production of cognacs in the 18th and 19th centuries was a way of farming the land that growers owned. At the time these cognacs were made, there were perhaps more than 1500 different growers in the region, each making their wines, distilling them and putting them into cellars to age in oak casks. The skills employed had been handed down from generations before them. Not every brandy which the growers produced was of a quality that stood out as being truly exceptional but now and again a cognac would be sufficiently good to be kept to one side and stored for the future. The year that the cognac was made was always recorded with a chalk mark on the barrel.
We understand that this cognac was removed from cask and placed in bonbonnes between 1950 and 1955, making it 75 – 80 years old. Our tasting notes confirm that the cognac has developed a significant rancio consistent with very long cask ageing. Specific tasting notes can be found here.
Today Thursday, 20th October, is World Calvados Day. If you would like to try this fabulous French apple brandy how about making something different? Calvados and tonic is France’s answer to the G&T and is a staple in Normandy. Although traditionally served chilled, it is just as fabulous with heaps of ice, a ton of tonic and a simple lemon twist producing a drink that’s “A little bitter and sweet, refreshing and bright”.
Calvados is a brandy made from apples and produced exclusively in Normandy. Its history dates back to 1553, when the drink was known as cidre eau-de-vie. The name calvados was introduced in the late 1700s, when France was divided into departments, and it is now known as one of the Three Noble French Eaux de Vie (cognac and armagnac being the other two). National Calvados Week is now in its tenth year and will run, alongside the annual apple harvest, from 10 – 16 October in bars and retailers throughout the UK. World Calvados Day will follow on shortly afterwards, on the 20th October, which falls on the eve of National Apple Day. If 
Negroni 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.
Richard Woodward writing in The Drinks Business last week, about Boutique Cognac Houses, names 
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Here we share a delicious Panna Cotta dessert recipe from our friends at Bordeneuve. Using their fabulous orange armagnac liqueur, 
Calvados 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.”