80th Anniversary Gifts

These vintage calvados and armagnacs are very valuable and rare presents being distilled 80 years ago in 1940. They have wonderful flavours but the depleting availability of these vintages makes them unique and fitting 80th Birthday & Anniversary Gifts. Since distillation they have been aged for decades in French oak casks. Initially the newly distilled spirit is put into new oak barrels, which have been toasted to kill off the harmful tannins in the wood and about 6 – 12 months later it is transferred to old barrels where it will gradually mature. During this process the cognac reacts with some of the good tannins and clearly, the more the cognac comes into contact with the wood, the quicker this will happen but there are other factors which can slow or speed up the process. Some cellar masters prefer to use barrels made from a tightly grained oak from the Tronçais forest but a wider grained oak found in the Limousin forests can also be used. Most cognacs are aged in Limousin barrels as the spirit penetrates the wood faster than in the Tronçais barrel. Oak is the traditional gift for an 80th anniversary, while diamonds or pearls are a more modern gift. Traditionally, oak is used in place of gems or precious metals because the oak tree takes a long period of time and commitment to reach full maturity, which is a direct reflection of the hard work and dedication that is necessary to sustain an 80-year marriage or to get to an 80th Anniversary. It is very fitting that this description can be directly applied to the production of the very finest cognacs!