At Brandyclassics we believe very much in education – without it the industry will fail to pass on the benefits of knowledge about potentially most important area of the end customer service. Brandy is important because it creates an opportunity to extend our knowledge of wines. Those who have read our previous notes will understand that brandies are a reduced wine. This series will cover every key aspect of cognac production. Cognac is after all, the “King of all Brandies” and as Samuel Johnson said, “Claret is the liquor for boys, Port for men, but he who aspires to be… Read more

The end of World War II  was followed by approaching 30 years of growing prosperity. The newly formed BNIC started to improve the relationship between growers and merchants and was in turn lubricated. The biggest changes were in the structure of the biggest firms. In 1947 the relationship between Martell and Hennessey came to and end when they failed to renew their agreement. Martell remained independent, but in 1971 Hennessey merged with the champagne firm of Moët & Chandon. The big two became the big four through the growth of Courvoisier and Rémy Martin. The firm of Courvoisier was established… Read more

When we talk about cognac, little thought is given to what we are talking about, or indeed what the definitions of cognacs really are. The battle against imitation cognacs was largely settled by legislation in 1905 and reinforced in 1929 by the special Acquit Jaune d’Or, the gold coloured certificate of origin that accompanies every load of cognac on the highway. The Martell/Hennessey pact created both stability and unrest amongst the producers who were offered custom to maintain their business, but at the same time restricted in what they made and supplied. During the war a well known grower Pierre… Read more

One of the truly great names in cognac died in May 2005. Jacques Hardy of A. Hardy Cognacs died in hospital after a short illness, he was 83. The firm of Hardy was one of the last totally independent cognac houses of stature recognised throughout the industry and his collection of early vintage and pre-phylloxera cognacs is probably the best known and highest quality still available. The Hardy’s, like many of the old cognac houses are of English decent and started life as local distillers. Antoine Hardy was a broker and founded his own firm in 1863 after working with… Read more

The introduction of new vines from America created large financial problems for the brandy industry, since the cost of the vines was largely prohibitive, especially to the very small producers and they simply went out of business. This crisis was caused not just by the cost of new vines, but also by the dwindling stocks of old cognacs that could be sold. And the problems got worse. After World War 1 came prohibition in the United States, regulatory state monopolies in Canada and Scandinavia and crippling taxes in Britain. The outlook was so bad  that in 1922 Martell and Hennessey… Read more

The defeat of Napoleon in 1815 was a great relief to the Cognacais. In the following decades the town burst beyond its medieval walls and the new rich merchants such as Otard and Dupuy were able to show their wealth with large houses built in the woods around Cognac. Even so, Martell and Hennessy retained their pre-eminence and most crucially were able to set the process for which the growers would sell their brandies to the merchants. They formed hereditary relationships that were governed not by contract, but by the habit of regularly trading, which had become a style of… Read more

Heavy duties on brandies in Britain led to lively smuggling traffic throughout the century. In Rudyard Kiplings words, Brandy for the Parson (together with the other highly taxed item), Baccy for the clerk. In the late eighteenth century, Adam Smith concluded that smugglers were the biggest importers of French goods into Britain. By the end of the eighteenth century cognacs were being stored in oak casks for longer periods and the outbreak of war in 1756 actually helped the situation. The Market was big and every year 200,000 barriquess de vin propres à brûler, from which emerged 13,400 pipes, (each… Read more

By 1800 many of the houses that we know of today were becoming established, and their requirement for brandies from the farmers was increasing demand. Coupled to this, the skills in making cognac had improved and a form of standardisation was gradually forming, both in the distillation and ageing process. But very little brandy was sold for keeping and most was intended to be cut with water when it reached its final destination – usually in Ireland or England. However some producers had realised the benefits of longer ageing, especially farmers who were supplying quantities to the merchants for onward… Read more

Distillation is a simple process, based on the fact that alcohol vaporises at a lower temperature than water, allowing the spirit to escape. When fermented liquor such as wine is heated, the alcohol vaporises and is trapped in the pipe leading from the top of the still, and is then cooled when it turns back into a liquid. There are a number of problems such as the shape and size of the vessel, the metal from which it is constructed and the quality of the liquid being distilled. Although in early days distillation was repeated on several occasions to increase… Read more

In 1753, one Father Arcère wrote in a history of La Rochelle, “The wines of Aunis was once highly regarded, if in time it has lost its former reputation, this misfortune must be attributed to the poor choice of varieties used”, these plants have impaired the quality of the fruit whilst increasing the yield. It was largely the Balzac and the Folle Blanche which provided the quantity but not the quality. Of course the remark was directed towards the wines which were regarded more favourably than the distilled or condensed wines, later to be cut with water for drinking at… Read more