Why is it that cognac attracts so many rappers to promote its cause?  Maybe they are attracted to the meticulous craft it embodies or the respect it commands in the spirits world?  Courvoisier recently launched a new campaign starring American rapper A$AP Rocky.  Called ‘Honour Your Code’ it embodies the brand’s values of ‘dedication, vision and respect for tradition’.  “I think your code is equivalent to your standards and your morals. It’s whatever you believe in and you should always stand by it.” said A$AP Rocky.  It was a similar view that drew Jay-Z to Château de Cognac 6 years ago.  His… Read more

Thankfully the Brexit talks finally seem to be getting somewhere as for the wine and spirits trade, no deal will be a bad deal.  The representative body of the EU drinks industry has called upon the EU and UK to agree to a ‘gold standard agreement’ and so minimise the Brexit Effect.  This will preserve tariff-free trade for wines and spirits to ensure fair competition and consumers’ confidence. A good outcome if agreed, but it is unlikely to be secured by March 2019. In contrast, a positive forecast comes from the Travel Retail sector.  This term emerged when duty-free shopping… Read more

The cognac wheel that was introduced by the BNIC has proved to be an ideal source of information when considering aromas from a given cognac or brandy. It divides aromas into seasons considering each in terms of: Spring delicacy, Summer fullness, Autumn richness and the hardness of Winter.  Flavours can be defined in a similar manner but perhaps with more defined headings.  For years I have considered cognac tastes as falling into 4 different categories.  The definitions are more easily defined than those of aromas. Of course, there are thousands of different perceptions of flavour which are recognised in the… Read more

The Mail on Sunday’s drinks writer and well known TV personality, Olly Smith, has featured a few products from the Brandyclassics website in his column over recent months.  He began with recommending our Hermitage Provenance 10 Cognac for Bonfire Night suggesting that one should “Dive into this liquid flame, whose quality will set your very soul alight”.  He is not the only one to enjoy this wonderful cognac.  It has been flying off our shelves ever since! With Christmas approaching Olly moved into our Armagnac range.  Firstly he advocated the ever popular Delord 20 Year Old Bas Armagnac describing it… Read more

Our latest release, Hermitage Cognac Marie Louise, is a 60-Year-Old Grande Champagne from one of the region’s top artisan producers. This astonishing creation has been described as “lining one’s mouth with velvet” and is a precious and rare investment.  At 43% abv it has all the complex aromas and flavours one would expect from such a well-aged cognac. It is offered in a limited first run of 50 one litre decanters produced by Cumbria Crystal.  They are the last producer of completely hand-blown and hand-cut, full-lead luxury English crystal in the UK. The intensity and depth of flavours created by… Read more

The taste of any drink or food differs from one taster to another so it is difficult to be precise on an interpretation of flavour. However, most people do understand general flavours that they regularly experience. For example, milk, coffee, orange and tea are all daily experiences but defining any one of these flavours is daunting. Perhaps even more so, is the conversion of aroma to taste.  For example, we often describe a cognac as oak flavoured. We may have tasted oak-smoked salmon but how do we explain the taste of oak by itself? Much of what we taste can… Read more

Our range of Hermitage Cognacs is ever increasing so we have designed some new cognac presentations to suit. The latest addition is a bespoke presentation box for our extremely popular Hermitage Cognac Café 20 – the perfect accompaniment to coffee, it can also be enjoyed at any time of the day. The Café 20 now comes packaged in a ‘wedgewood’ blue box depicting early 20th century French café culture. Our Hermitage 20 Year Old Grande Champagne and Hermitage 30 Year Old Grande Champagne Cognacs are both supplied in the extremely elegant ‘Helios’ carafe. Their new presentation box features the Alembic… Read more

The name ‘Hardy Legend 1863’ sounds as if it is an exceedingly valuable pre-Phylloxera cognac from the nineteenth century.  (The Phylloxera outbreak swept through French vineyards in about 1875).  Cognacs produced before this time were made with Folle Blanche and Colombard grapes.  Today they are extremely rare and valuable.  The name of this new, US release refers to the year the firm Hardy was established.  The bottle contains cognac aged for up to 12 years and is a blend of Petite Champagne and Borderies.  It is made from the more modern Ugni Blanc grapes.  Still a family firm, A Hardy… Read more

The 2017 International Wine & Spirits Competition held in London this summer revealed how our drinking tastes are evolving, reports The Telegraph.  Expert spirits writer Neil Ridley says that our understanding of what we are drinking is constantly improving and he named the top 5 trends to look out for.  One of those is the slow but steady rise in demand for French spirits.  The increase in  Armagnac popularity is particularly evident.   “It is a misunderstood French brandy with huge amounts of history and provenance.  It sits somewhere between single malt whisky and cognac and has a lot to… Read more

This summer, the Pineau des Charentes Committee launched its first marketing campaign in the US.  Americans, already enjoy the truly craft, French cognac so are expected to embrace this little-known relative.  Pineau des Charentes is produced exclusively in the French Charentes region and gained the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée status in 1945.  There are now about 500 producers. Pineau is made by adding freshly pressed grapes to newly distilled cognac eau-de-vie, at a ratio of about 3:1.  It must be aged in oak for at least a year and can be white or rosé.   Some producers, such as Chateau de… Read more