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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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Cognac 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:
The Winter 2021 Club Oenologique Magazine is, we are delighted to say, rather cognac heavy. Richard Woodward begins with an in depth article entitled ‘Cognac’s Hidden Houses’. “We all know the big cognac names, if only from our favourite hip-hop tracks. But, a smattering of smaller boutique producers are quietly making their voices heard – and are well worth seeking out” he says. Referring to the big brands, Laurent Vallet of Chateau Montifaud says “It would be boring for consumers to only find 5 or 6 types of cognac”. That sums up the vision here at Hermitage – to sell unique cognacs with individual flavours.
Joel Harrison can also be found writing about ‘King Cognac’ – “Given the weight of history that Cognac carries, the result is arguably the most dynamic and exciting category in spirits” he comments. Featuring the recent IWSC winners, Hermitage 50 Year Old that won The Cognac Trophy gets a special mention. It scored 99 point out of 100 (there is a typo in the magazine) which is just about the best third party approbation we could get!
And to follow this up, the online magazine features another article by Joel about the joys of independently bottled spirits. “….. There are few places left bottling any liquid from vintages such as 1880, 1885, 1890 and 1893 (to name but a few), and they are a real taste of history. As for the prices: well, all you need to know is that you could pick up two bottles of Hermitage’s excellent 1917 Grande Champagne Cognac for the price of one bottle of Louis XIII.” You can read the full article here.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Surely one of these gifts,
Should be given by you ……..
This month’s offers include something for everyone. We have a wonderful vintage, premier cru cognac from Hermitage. The 1988 Grande Champagne has flavours of roasted walnuts, spice and toffee. From armagnac we have a vintage Delord 1990 which has a handwritten label and wax seals to make it a very special gift. And for the gin lover, a very special, organic, tangerine gin all the way from Mosgaard in Denmark. Go on, spoil each other!
The Spirits Business has once again been looking at the astronomical prices of aged whisky compared to cognac and their research tells them that the Collectors market is looking further afield. Jonny Fowle of Sotheby’s commented “… it does seem like there is room for vintage, aged spirits like Cognac to find favour with people who are maybe unhappy with the price of Scotch whisky.”
“Interest in Cognac is definitely growing,” says Isabel Graham-Yooll, auction director at Whisky.Auction. “In the secondary market and the auction market, people are becoming more educated.”
In the Ultra-Premium Segment, there is much innovation being carried out at the top end of the cognac market, says David Baker, managing director of Hermitage Cognacs. He believes sprits produced by masters of their craft in creative ways can become some of the best examples available in the category.
“We’ve got an 1885 at the moment, and that is probably the finest Cognac I’ve ever tasted, it is just out of this world,” he says. Read the full article here:
How luxury Cognac is attracting whisky collectors – The Spirits Business
Following our unprecedented tally of medals at the International Wines and Spirits Competition (IWSC) 2021 we are delighted to announce that the Hermitage 50 Year Old Grande Champagne Cognac has also been awarded the overall Cognac Trophy 2021. it was the best cognac in the competition with a Gold Outstanding Award and a combined judges’ score of 99 points out of 100.
Our MD, who is one of the UK’s leading authorities on the subject, spoke as results were announced.
“We work tirelessly to find the very best that the region has to offer, from family growers who have these precious cognacs stashed away. Being awarded results like these is a welcome vindication of our standards and the outstanding quality which is available if you know where to look.”
Panel Chairman at the IWSC Joel Harrison praised the levels of quality in this round of judging.
“Given the history and heritage in Cognac, as well as the undoubted consistency of the major houses, it is a real joy through the IWSC judging to discover unique and individual bottlings such as these, packed with personality and flavour, that often defy their age. In a category with such high standards, it must be recognised how much of an achievement attaining medals and accolades of this standard is.”
The judges described our 50 Year Old (Grande Champagne) thus:
“Like opening an old leather-bound book or antique oak armoire. Figgy pudding and rich dark chocolate; wonderful rich spices and the bitterness of orange zest come through on the palate. Spicy but gentle and supremely dry.”
It is a magnificent cognac that will also make a wonderfully special 50th birthday or anniversary gift.
“There can be few spirits with such an illustrious pedigree and premium connotations as Cognac.” Following the last International Wine and Spirit’s Competition (IWSC) a list of the world’s six best cognacs was compiled. How very pleasing it was to read that our Hermitage 2008 Grande Champagne Cognac was listed as one of them. We have always known that this is a very special cognac. Relatively youthful for one from the premier cru, it is just 10 years old, single-cask, single-estate and very expensive, but it is also one in a million. The IWSC described it as “Fresh and powerful with a wealth of flavours delivered through a very expressive and complex set of aromas on the palate. Luscious leather, ginger and rancio notes are boldly evident and intricately balanced with cherry stones and warming spice.” Being single-cask, availability is diminishing fast so if you would like to taste it for yourself, don’t hang about. If you are interested in finding out more about single-cask cognacs take a look at our latest Technical Topic here.
The Cognac Masters 2021 results have just been announced and we are thrilled to report that our new Hermitage 1990 Grande Champagne Cognac, presented at 47% abv, received a Masters Medal. Only 9 of these, the highest possible medal, were awarded in the entire competition so this is particularly pleasing. You can read about all the results here, in the May 2021 edition of The Spirits Business magazine starting on page 49.
Judges’ comments include:
Complex and superbly balanced ~~~ Silky smooth texture ~~~ Really long and expressive
In other news, we have recently added Hermitage 10 Year Old Grande Champagne Cognac to our portfolio and it will replace the Provenance 10 Grande Champagne Cognac in the range.
Frapin has just released a limited edition run of this unique presentation to celebrate 750 years since the family’s oldest member was born in Cognac in 1270. We do applaud these small family firms who have passed on their skills from generation to generation and not taken the easy route of selling to the ‘big four’. The Frapin 750 contains some very old Grande Champagne eau de vie, albeit blended, and is presented in a Baccarat crystal carafe decorated with Belle Epoch-like grapevine etchings. Just 21 of these presentations have been produced – to represent the 21 generations of the Frapin family – now that really is history in a bottle. It oozes quality and style but so does the price tag. One of these will set you back an astounding £43,956. That’s equivalent to 25 of our Hermitage Marie Louise Cognacs in crystal decanters!
Hefty price tags like this are, however, quite common-place in the world of whisky. Two recent releases demonstrate that, even without 750 years of family firm history, large sums of money can be charged. Glengoyne and Glenfarcas have just released limited-edition whiskies, in engraved crystal decanters and luxury presentation boxes. The Glengoyne 50 yo single malt costs £22,500 and the Glenfarcas 60 yo single cask, £19,500. Compare these prices to equivalent cognacs (Hermitage 50 yo @ £400 and Hermitage 60 yo @ £530) and it is difficult to see where they come from. Market forces must play their part but demand for old cognacs is on the rise so perhaps soon, their prices will too.
Single Cask is a term well known in the whisky industry, it certainly gives a product increased status and price but why is that? The phrase Single Cask suggests a unique glimpse into a particular set of circumstances that has given rise to a one-off personality. The whisky may be from a certain year where the distillery was using a particular mashing regime, yeast strain or set of stills. It may have been stored in a warehouse that is known to provide certain conditions. The barrel itself is unique as no two trees are identical and coopers’ techniques differ, so the flavours that develop will be only found in that cask. Every distillery has its official range of bottlings which are created to please as many people as possible, but a Single Cask captures the stage before the identity is lost in the blend. For distillery fans, this takes their experience a step further. Rarity imparts value and so a Single Cask will be highly sought after.
Many of these special characteristics can also be found in cognac production. Every year the very best cognacs are selected for long-term ageing, rather than joining the thousands of others destined to be blended. The cellarmasters’ skills are paramount in bringing these chosen nectars to optimum maturity and many variations to the ageing process maybe employed. So why are these cognac vintages or age statements not designated as Single Cask? Perhaps the answer lies in the finer detail.
Amazingly, an industry-wide definition of Single Cask does not exist, but The Scottish Whisky Association (SWA) is clear on the rules that it enforces. They feel that to be classed as Single Cask, the spirit must remain in the same barrel from the moment the spirit is filled until the moment it is bottled, without any revatting or finishing. Therefore “a sherry finished single cask whisky” is not acceptable but a “single cask whisky finished in a sherry butt” is. It is accepted however, that all whiskies will move from one barrel to another in the early stages of maturation, it is what happens next that is important.
The process of moving from new to old wood in the initial stage also applies to cognac so, when a vintage is kept in the same old oak barrel throughout its maturation, it will be Single Cask. A problem arises though when there are multiple barrels of the same vintage which may be mixed for bottling. Unlike in the whisky industry, barrel numbering is not common. Cognacs can also be moved to different barrels during the ageing process. The cellarmaster seeks to guide the spirit’s maturation path by using newer and older oak barrels at different stages. This can really benefit the final quality and flavour of the cognac so is deemed to be more important than any benefits derived from being Single Cask. The rules of cognac production are strict; it may not be put into barrels that have held other types of spirit, but it may be put into previously used cognac barrels. The BNIC’s definition of Single Cask is a cognac that has always been stored in the same barrel so, the phrase could indeed be used to describe a particular barrel of cognac, but not as often as you might expect.
