Cognac distributors in China are failing to obtain sufficient stocks to fulfill demand. Many producers in Cognac are under pressure to supply valuable stocks to major negoçiants for blending in VSOP, XO blends. The shortage of supply is forcing prices up and leading to higher costs of new cognacs. Thousands of distillers all over the region are being asked to supply even younger cognacs for blending with inevitable loss of quality. Industry body the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC) said more than five bottles were sold every second in 2011, the total number of bottles sold rose by 6.4%… Read more

Luxury goods giant LVMH reported a 1% rise in net profit this week as the company continues to show strong growth despite economic uncertainty in Europe. The groups net profit topped €3 billion, as sales jumped 16% last year, driven mainly by strong spending in Asia. The groups Chief Executive, Bernard Arnaud said growth was much the same as the previous year and he is expecting next year to grow yet again. Remy Martin are also expecting a big jump in profits 18%) as indeed are those of Pernod Ricard, owners of the Martell brand. The big four Cognac houses are… Read more

People are starting to frequent bars, clubs and restaurants in the UK increasingly more, often leaving the on-trade well placed to capitalise on “austerity fatigue”, according to new figures. The Zolfo Cooper Leisure Wallet report, the biannual barometer of the Leisure industry, revealed that the frequency of visits to leisure establishments has increased despite average spend-per-visit continuing to drop. The increase is seen across the board, the first time any increase has been seen in the three main areas of leisure spending examined by the leisure Wallet since launching in summer 2010. However the spend per visit continues to drop… Read more

The Jenssen cognac brand was created in 2000 by a Norwegian investor who later sold it to the Russian wine and spirit group MMVZ in 2005. The firm has failed to show a profit and has been the subject of much controversy when it was discovered that Andrei Borodin, the ex president of the Bank of Moscow, was declared the real owner of the Business – he had been involved in many banking scandals. The estate consists of around 20 hectares (50 acres), with a distillery and a large house with a swimming pool. Espen Soland, who was in charge… Read more

Courvoisier have just announced a new product, called C by Courvoisier. It’s a cognac and they even call it a revolutionary cognac. “C” is supposed to open a new way of consuming cognac – a new approach to the category. It’s produced in small batches, double barrel aged. OK up to here, do Courvoisier really believe we think it is single barrel aged? All cognac is double barrel aged, firstly in new barrels for 6-12 months, then in old barrels, hopefully for many years. But regrettably not for Courvoisier C, launched in the traditional black Josephine bottles. It is said… Read more

In the latter half of the 17th Century the fashion conscious world of Restoration London, like so many others before and since, lived largely in public. The “café” society congregating in the capital’s coffee houses experimented with a whole host of new drinks. Some, like tea, coffee and chocolate were non-alcoholic. Most were wines; claret, port, sherry, more or less fortified to withstand the journey to Britain (and to accord with the English taste for robust liquors). Only one, from Cognac, a small town in Western France was a spirit. Since then cognac has never looked back. From newspaper advertisements… Read more

Although the history of cognac probably goes back 500 years it has been universally recognised as the finest of all the hundreds of spirits distilled from grapes. For the sheer depth and intensity, fruitiness, subtlety of bouquet, warmth and complexity of flavour and length of time for which the flavour lingers on the palate, cognac remains incomparable. The ability to extract so much of the essential flavour from the grape is no accident. It involves possessing the right soil and climate, choosing the right grape varieties, using the appropriate distillation process and then enhancing the inherent quality through long storage… Read more

If your father was a cellar master, it would be fairly likely that you might grow up with some interest in the industry. In the case of Marianne Soupe, this particular line of work involved working with cognacs, so her ability to recognise different aromas and tastes has led her to be able to blend different cognacs into a range called Sylvelune which includes five different cognacs with names such as Cuvee Charme, Cuvee Sequoia, Lou and Charman Cognac. Each bottle is labelled by hand and presented in a wooden box with a certificate. Disappointingly, there are no ages to… Read more

The Cognac Masters, held every November has become to us something of a ritual since, Hermitage Cognacs have enjoyed very great success over the years at the competition. Many of you will know that this year we won three Masters Medals, as well as the Cognac Grand Master for the sheer quality of our cognacs. One of the three medals went to the Hermitage 1988 Grande Champagne from Ambleville, a light and delicate cognac with great style. This cognac will be made available from the 1st May. It is the very essence of quality and a worthy Masters winner.

The start of the year is always a flurry of high expectations in the drinks business with Exhibitions in Germany and Italy, followed in the UK by the London show at the Excel Centre in May and this year by Vinexpo the big trade show in Hong Kong. Vinexpo changes every year between Bordeaux and Hong Kong, and this year it is sold out by more than 500 square metres. Indeed, Hong Kong is fast becoming the centre for Asian drink sales exhibitions with people travelling from all over Asia to visit and see the finest drinks available from the… Read more