Decanter: Family values in Cognac and Armagnac

The biggest names in Cognac and Armagnac have earned their success for good reason, but look further and you’ll find a plethora of fascinating, high-quality and characterful spirits made by the many smaller, family-oriented producers across the two regions.

 Richard Woodard
March 15, 2024

The great houses of Cognac and Armagnac are rooted in family names – from the arrival in the Charente of Jersey native Jean Martell in 1715, to the decision nine years later by local wine-grower Rémy Martin to start bottling spirit under his own name.

Hennessy Cognac founder Richard Hennessy was an Irish officer in the army of Louis XV, while Emmanuel Courvoisier laid the foundations for the eponymous Jarnac Cognac house when he joined Louis Gallois in business in 1796. Further south, in the town of Condom, Pierre Etienne Janneau started his Armagnac business, in association with Joseph Dubourdieu, in 1851.

Over the centuries, these leading producers have passed into the hands of multinational companies and large conglomerates – in late 2023, it was announced that Italy’s Campari Group had agreed to buy Courvoisier from the Beam Suntory group in a deal worth up to US$1.2bn. Family business, you might say, has become big business.

But, beyond these mega-brands, family connections still run deep in both regions, and in the vineyards and cellars of some of their most quality-conscious producers.

Improving with age: six delectable Cognacs and Armagnacs

Frapin Château de Fontpinot XO 100th Anniversaire

Cognac

From the resurrected 1923 label to the superlative blending, everything about this just oozes class. Heady hedgerow florals, luscious tropical fruit, toasted almond/hazelnut and just a whisper of elusive rancio. All that’s best about Cognac in one glass. Alcohol 41%

Vinepair: Boutique Cognac Producers Are Betting on Transparency and Innovation to Shake Up the Status Quo

There’s no dichotomy in spirits like Cognac. With a history dating back hundreds of years, the famed French brandy is led by gigantic legacy brands owned by multinational conglomerates. These companies source most of their eau-de-vie from thousands of growers within the Cognac AOC, maturing and eventually blending it into a portfolio of products that start with entry-level V.S. and often extend to limited-edition Hors d’Age (“beyond age”) offerings that can run thousands of dollars a bottle.

Almost all discussion of the category is driven by these leading houses, which tightly control the information they share and work closely with Cognac’s trade group, the BNIC (Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac). Yet they’re curiously reticent about speaking to the press; of four major brands that were approached for this story, only one, Courvoisier, was willing to make someone available for an interview. Nicolas Palazzi, owner of PM Spirits, which imports boutique brand Frapin Cognac among others, calls the industry a “black box” of secrecy.

“There has been a lack of information and a lack of transparency from Cognac in general because it’s easier for business,” he says, explaining that baked-in ambiguity — part of the regulations governing Cognac production — allows blenders to incorporate a variety of liquids into their products without disclosing their ages, or if they use additives. “The less things are transparent, the more a brand can play around to meet the demand. There’s a reason why there’s no vintages on bottles—why no one tells you [the age].”

Though they dominate sales, the big houses aren’t the only players in Cognac. There are also estate distilleries, small-scale négoçiants (independent bottlers), and growers who hold back some of their distillate to sell under their own name. The volumes they produce are but a drop in the barrel, and many operate under the same veil of silence as the rest of the industry — no doubt because they rely on the success of the leaders to buoy the region’s fortunes as well as their own.

But the little guys are becoming an increasingly important factor in the equation of U.S. market sales. The spirits boom of the last two decades has yielded a crop of knowledgeable consumers who are curious, engaged, and on the lookout for unique products. They’re asking questions, demanding transparency, and searching for what’s authentic. Is the Cognac industry prepared to give them what they want?

The New Cognac Consumer

Cognac has been on a tear in the U.S. market over the past two decades, selling 9.28 million cases in 2022, compared to 4.15 million in 2012, and just 3.7 million in 2002, according to the BNIC. The bulk of that growth has come from a handful of brands: Hennessy, Rémy Martin, Courvoisier, Martell, and, more recently, D’Ussé. Luxury positioning, sophisticated marketing, and celebrity affiliations have contributed to this runaway success, as has the sheer volume that these big companies are able to execute as demand ramps up.

Alongside this growth has been an expanding base of engaged, curious consumers. “Knowledge [about Cognac] is much more democratized, distributed — all over the internet,” says Max von Olfers, co-founder of cognac-expert.com, an e-commerce site dedicated to brandy. When he and his sister, Sophie, started the website in 2009, “the big trend was what we would call ‘influencer Cognac’”—brands with celebrity partnerships, like Ludacris with Conjure Cognac or Jay-Z with D’Ussé. “Today’s trends were very far away — not even visible,” Olfers says, mentioning vintages, high proof, organic production methods, and single barrels as some of the buzziest topics his customers are now seeking out and discussing. “This connoisseur-ization of the Cognac world is really what changed in recent years.”

The trend was already underway when the pandemic began in March 2020. For the first few months, spirits purchase patterns tended to favor more established brands as people sought familiarity. But eventually consumers adjusted to virtual tastings and online shopping, and were back to exploring new-to-them brands and products. “Consumers were way more open-minded to spending money on new items in 2020 and 2021, and we definitely benefited from that,” says Guillaume Lamy, managing director for the U.S. arm of Ferrand Cognac, a brand whose releases, which include unique cask finishes and other atypical characteristics, tend to showcase an outsize level of creativity for the category.

During the early days of the pandemic, when people were reluctant to shop in person, retailers like Baytowne Wine & Spirits, in the Rochester suburb of Webster, N.Y., turned to the phone and social media to walk customers through their options. General manager James Pellingra says that the “new normal” allowed him and his staff to highlight the boutique and artisanal offerings the store stocks. “Because we were able to communicate in such a detailed way … you see some of the smaller producers that are extremely historic in the European market start to take over a little bit in the American market,” Pellingra says, citing Fanny Fougerat and Jacky Navarre as two top sellers.

The process was accelerated when Hennessy, which is far and away the largest Cognac brand in the world, fell victim to supply chain trouble and began to temporarily disappear from shelves. Pellingra says that at first Hennessy customers switched to D’Ussé; then, when D’Ussé began experiencing out-of-stocks, they looked to the store’s artisanal offerings.

It was a lucky break for the little guys. “We were able to fill the shelves of some retailers who were used to having the big four or five Cognacs but were not able to get them,” says Christine Cooney, co-owner of Massachusetts-based Heavenly Spirits, which brings in several small Cognac brands including Monnet and Jean Fillioux. “Sometimes the hardest part of us selling smaller producers is to get on the shelf.”

And now that they’re there, Cooney says, her brands are selling well enough to maintain their spot. “They usually stay on the shelf because once people discover how good our small producers are, then the product is being reordered.”

The Push for Transparency

The reasons for this sustained success aren’t hard to spot. Boutique Cognac brands are high quality and, for marques above VSOP, they’re often priced competitively, if not well below mainstream offerings. Plus, they’re willing to share information that the big guys tend to keep under wraps. “I’ve found the littler producers are more open to talking about process,” says David Othenin-Girard, spirits buyer at California retailer K&L Wine Merchants, whose Cognac selection focuses on small-production brands such as Dudognon and Jean Grosperrin. The small brands that Cooney represents often participate in video tastings; education, she says, is a keystone of the company’s strategy.

Though most people drinking Cognac are still seeking the mainstream brands, Baytowne’s Pellingra says that the value proposition of smaller producers is a big draw for retailers. Plus, he adds, “They’re more transparent about where their fruit comes from, the process in which they’re distilling, how they’re aging, rather than some of the bigger brands where everything is kept secret.” That’s a big win with customers. “We want to know where our product comes from, how it’s made, and how it gets to us,” Pellingra says.

Much of that desire for transparency is being driven by whiskey drinkers who are exploring Cognac for the first time, and bringing their expectations and biases with them. Olfers, while including rum drinkers as well, calls them a “new wave,” adding: “This group is a small but very loud group. They are mixing up the Cognac world.” He sees their influence in the growing cadre of private bottlers offering unique barrels and bottlings.

“The story has gotten out: The big houses source from hundreds of growers and producers,” says writer Jason Wilson, who covers Cognac regularly in his newsletter “Everyday Drinking.” “But you’re starting to hear this story that the smaller producers keep a few of the very best barrels for themselves over the years, and now you have these smaller négoçiants that are going out and sourcing barrels from these old-timers,” he says. “That’s what the real spirits enthusiasts want.”

Pellingra’s experience at Baytowne bears this out; customers snap up whatever single-barrel brandies he can bring in — not just Cognac, but Armagnac and Calvados, too. “The American market has finally realized they can buy 20-plus-year-old brandy for a much more reasonable price than 20-plus-year-old whiskey,” Pellingra says. “And it’s much more readily available. … If you go in looking for a bottle of bourbon [at that age] — I mean, most places are going to laugh you out of the store at this point, unfortunately.”

Cooney has seen the same trend in Heavenly Spirits’ portfolio. “We have sold a few Cognac [single] casks at full-proof,” she says. “That kind of Cognac is a draw for whiskey drinkers” because of the high proof — unusual for Cognac, which is almost always bottled at or near 40 percent ABV. For these customers, Cooney says, “the higher, the better.”

Untapped Potential

Let’s be very clear: Small Cognac brands are never going to make up more than a tiny fraction of the massive, and massively successful, Cognac industry. The top five brands make up more than 96 percent of the market, according to Impact Databank, with Hennessy alone accounting for more than 55 percent. These volume leaders may not notice or care that a niche subset of spirits buyers are pursuing boutique offerings, since their success has historically been driven by a different kind of drinker — one who’s often brand-loyal above all else. Still, there are signs that some big brands are trying to reach more hardcore spirits enthusiasts. Courvoisier, for example, released a mizunara cask-aged offering in 2022 that was partly made by Japanese master whisky blender Shinji Fukuyo, clearly targeting whiskey connoisseurs.

But outside of the leading five houses, Cognac producers looking to make a mark in the U.S. would be wise to pay attention to what consumers say they want. “The potential of the category for producers and drinkers has not even begun to be scratched,” says Nima Ansari, spirits buyer at New York’s Astor Wine & Spirits. “A lot of the things that are exciting people in other categories already exist in spades in Cognac, too.”

If they’re going to make a go of it, boutique producers should be prepared to work hard. “The small guy has to do it hardcore,” Palazzi says, meaning: find the right importer and wholesaler partners, put in the time and effort to do consumer and trade tastings, and tell the story constantly. “That stuff is extremely hard. It’s a labor of love. There’s zero money in it.”

But, he says, “if they find a megaphone in the U.S. market, then they can express this and distance themselves from the big guys.” For small Cognac producers trading on their authenticity and transparency, that just might be the best way forward.

Barrel Hunting in Cognac: Unearthing Hidden Treasures in Dusty Old Cellars

There’s a popular vision of Cognac that’s all blinged out and dripping: crystal decanters, tasting rooms that look like jewelry stores and five-figure bottlings. This image is dominated by a handful of huge brands everyone recognizes: Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier—the so-called Big Four, which sell nearly 90% of the Cognac consumed worldwide, according to the International Wines and Spirits Record. But there is another side of Cognac, too. One that’s based more on the gritty agricultural reality of the region.

I saw it on a cold, gray day last winter at an unassuming farm in the small village of Verrières. This was probably the last place I’d expect to find pricey Cognac, but I was on a barrel hunt with Guilhem Grosperrin, among the new wave of négociants whose limited-edition releases are quickly becoming the most coveted bottles in Cognac. We visited one of the 150 small producers in his network, where Grosperrin crawls around old cellars looking for rare brandies.

When we arrived at the farm, four barking dogs rushed out to us, followed by a ruddy-faced septuagenarian who was still dressed from his boar hunt earlier in the day. Cognac is a secretive, rivalrous place and I was introduced to the man in hunting attire as only Marcel, no last name. Marcel eyed me suspiciously, then asked, “Well, does he like to drink?” Grosperrin chuckled and told Marcel that, yes, I liked to drink very much. With the ice broken, we stepped into his dark, dusty cellar to taste from his barrels, which had been aging since as early as the 1980s. “Sorry it’s dirty in here. I haven’t distilled since 2012,” Marcel said.

The nonstop luxury messaging from the Big Four makes people forget Cognac’s origin as wine. We sipped liquid from Marcel’s barrels that had begun as grapes in the family’s 10-hectare vineyard, which he picked, pressed, fermented and distilled. It’s a similar story for the roughly 4,300 winegrowers in Cognac, most of whom grow less than 20 hectares specifically for Cognac production. During his career, Marcel sold most of his stock to one Big Four house or another. But he always saved a few special barrels for himself. “What they keep is for pleasure, or patrimony, or as souvenirs, or for reasons that are not necessarily logical,” Grosperrin told me.

By age eight, Marcel was able to light the still, which he did in the morning while his father tended to the cows. Marcel remembers a wealthy neighbor who’d been a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. That man wrote to his family from prison: “Cut down all the trees if you have to, but don’t stop distilling. Distill, distill, distill.” After the war, this guy’s cellar was full, and he became rich. Meanwhile, Marcel’s family had to rebuild its stocks. “The value of money is just in your head,” he said. “But the value of Cognac is solid, and you don’t lose it.”

To whiskey drinkers, single-cask offerings may seem like old hat. But it’s a relatively new phenomenon in brandy. Cognac is actually following a model that’s already been successful for Armagnac. Single-barrel Armagnac from négociants like L’Encantada are catching the fancy of American whiskey connoisseurs tired of paying whiskey prices. The problem in Armagnac is that the existing stock of barrels is small and shrinking.

That offers an opportunity for Cognac, where there is seemingly endless stock. Though, as Grosperrin points out, “It’s much more complicated to buy a cask here than in Armagnac. In Cognac, the producers are richer, and they don’t need small independent bottlers. They have contracts with the big houses.”

It’s still the early stages for the single-barrel Cognac revolution, and we’re just beginning to see these bottles in the U.S. La Maison du Whiskey’s “Through the Grapevine” series was one of the first to appear. PM Spirits has done several limited-edition bottlings, and this year has released rare single-cask offerings from renowned producers Frapin and Remi Landier. Last spring, Grosperrin released bottlings in the U.S. for the first time in several years. Importer Heavenly Spirits has released two single-barrel bottlings from the famed estate Jean Fillioux. Vallein-Tercinier and Jean-Luc Pasquet have plans to bring more of their single-cask offerings into the States.

To be clear, at the moment, single-barrel Cognac is still the domain of aficionados, with prices running more than $200 per bottle. But they’re still a fraction of something like Rémy Martin Louis XIII or Hennessy Paradis Imperial (both more than $3,000). Much of the price of those blingy brand names is wrapped up in specially designed decanters. The new wave of single-barrel offerings is something rarer and scarcer. “This is for people who want the unexpected. It’s a different philosophy. It’s outside of the current market,” said Vingtier.

SPIRITS: THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | DECEMBER 08, 2022

It all started innocently enough. Over the last few years, I have seen a marked increase in spirits made by winemakers. I thought it would be fun to taste them and write them all up. That was the genesis for this report. But then more and more samples arrived, and before I knew it, the article had morphed into a broad survey of spirits of all kinds. This article is clearly not comprehensive to any one category, but rather intended as a collection of spirits I think Vinous readers will enjoy.

As I started tasting through these spirits, I wondered if my approach to tasting wine and Champagne would be applicable, or if instead, I needed an entirely new methodology for looking at quality. I asked myself if there are really marked differences between several raspberry eaux de vie, for example. It turns out spirits can absolutely be assessed for aromatics, fruit, texture, finish and a number of criteria used in evaluating wine. If anything, the alcohol in most categories acts as an amplifier of those qualities and also accentuates both strengths and flaws. And yes, raspberry eaux de vie can be very different.

Where possible I have indicated lot numbers, although these aren’t always available in the world of spirits. I would like to see that change so consumers can know they are buying the same product I tasted and reviewed. In this regard, parts of the spirits world share some basic principles with other beverages such as NV Champagne, but also soft drinks and beer, where the goal is to create a ‘consistent’ product from year to year. There are virtues in that, and it is a skill, but I believe small batch bottlings that are differentiated are far more interesting, certainly far more interesting for the inquisitive reader looking for something that is truly distinctive. For now, I have relaxed the rule I have for NV Champagne where I only review bottlings that have a base vintage or disgorgement date listed.

But that does make me wonder what the future is for craft spirits. About a decade ago, I sat in the Krug tasting room with then-CEO Margareth Henriquez and Olivier Krug and explained that I would not review their Grande Cuvée because there was no way to ensure the batch I tasted was the same wine in the market. I suggested adding a base vintage or disgorgement date, which would differentiate releases, make each release special, and then, in time create opportunities for thematic tastings and/or special packaging, like mixed cases. “Our customers have no interest in this information,” was the reply.

Readers might find this hard to believe, but at the time, the Grand Cuvée struggled mightily in the market. It did not sell. And this was not that long ago. For a time, the half bottles were dumped in elite New York City restaurants (likely elsewhere too), where they were sold for next to nothing. Then, Krug began experimenting with thematic names for each release, before settling on the Edition system. A stroke of genius. Guess what happened? For the first time ever, Grande Cuvée became an allocated wine. All sorts of comparative tastings emerged, as did boxed sets that offer a combination of releases.

To be sure, spirits are different. Many are made in tiny quantities and on a far smaller scale than wine or Champagne. Unlike wine, bottles are opened and often enjoyed over a period of time, so comparative tastings are less the norm. Even so, I would like to see better and more consumer-friendly labeling. There is a possible parallel with the world of grower Champagne, where an increasing number of producers detail varietal breakdown and the exact source of their fruit. Why would that not be applicable to a fine source of pears or raspberries for eau de vie, or a specific breakdown of lots in a Cognac? All information like that does is create greater consumer interest.

I tasted the spirits in this report in November and December 2022.

The Eau de Vie Damson Plum from Capreolus is laced with hints of dried fruit, crushed flowers, herbs, mint and red stone fruit. Exotic and nuanced the Plum Brandy is exquisite. It is an especially floral, savory plum spirit. This fruit was sourced in Vale of Evesham, This is bottle 118 of 336.

The Eau de Vie Raspberry melds together plenty of fruit character, but in a serious, almost imposing style. This is not an easygoing spirit at all. Then again, approximately 75 pounds of fruit yield one liter of eau de vie. Sweet floral and herbal accents add lift. There is a bit of angularity and that leaves the Raspberry feeling a bit tense next to the other eaux de vie in the range. This is bottle 257 of 301.

The Eau de Vie Quince is floral, lifted and also very refined on the palate. A spirit of understatement and class, the Quince is soft-spoken, with impeccable balance, fine length and tons of sheer appeal. Dried floral and herbal notes resonate on the finish, but it is the overall balance I am most drawn to here. This is bottle 48 of 116.

The Eau de Vie Poire Williams (100% Bartlett Pear) from Cazottes is fabulous. Creamy and textured, the Poire Williams soars out of the glass with stunning aromatic complexity. Soft contours add raciness to this decidedly polished, exuberant eau di vie. The style is one of sublime refinement and class - perhaps too much for some palates - but all the elements are so well balanced. This release is a total knockout.

The Eau de Vie Reine Claude Doreé (100% Greengage Plum) is a wild, exotic eau de vie. The aromatics alone are crazy. A whole range of floral and savory top notes give the Reine Claude Dorée its distinctive personality. Fruit is more in the background in this captivating spirit from Laurent Cazottes. The bright, clean finish is a thing of beauty.

The Haut-Armagnac La Réserve is very pretty, aromatic and lifted. What this young Haut-Armagnac lacks in age it more than makes up for with its exquisite balance and finesse. There are no hard edges whatsoever. Sweet spice, leather and floral notes give the Réserve notable aromatic presence to match its mid-weight personality. La Réserve is a blend of young Ugni Blanc and Colombard, usually about six years old, aged in 100% new French oak and bottled at 45% abv.

The 2011 Haut-Armagnac La Flamme (Ugni Blanc, Colombard) is a blend of single barrels bottled at full proof. Rich and explosive, La Flamme is a heady, exotic Haut-Armagnac that delivers the goods big time. Here, too, the balance is exquisite, especially for a spirit that is a little more than a decade old. Light caramel, spice, herb, maraschino cherry and toast notes build into the pure, persistent finish. This is a terrific showing. Abv is 50.5%.

The 1994 Brut de Fût is a single cask blend of 65% Ugni Blanc and 35% Colombard bottled at cask strength, unfiltered and with no additives. Gently mellowed by time, the 1994 is a wonderfully expressive Armagnac. Soft contours wrap around a gentle core of macerated cherry, spice, leather, dried herbs and light caramel notes. This is all understatement and elegance. I very much admire the precision here. Spring frost and a dry summer yielded a small crop of ripe grapes. The 1994 spent a total of 27 years in wood.

The Cognac Grand Champagne Chai Paradis Très Vieille Réserve is a single cask bottling from Frapin's Paradis cellar. Hints of smoke, caramel, dried flowers, leather and orange peel lend notable aromatic presence. A Cognac of understatement and finesse, the Très Vieille Réserve is wonderfully expressive right out of the gate. Abv is 42.8%.

The Eau de Vie de Cidre Double Zero is gorgeous. It was made from more than thirty varieties of apples, blending bitter, bittersweet, sweet and sweet varieties. Fruit is harvested, then cellared for a few months to concentrate the flavors, before fermentation and distillation begin. Laser-like in its focus, with gorgeous aromatics, this eau de vie is seriously impressive. A glass will provide pleasure to both the hedonistic and intellectual senses. This is L.20.

The Rhum Agricole Organic is a powerful spirit that makes its full-proof felt. Flavors and textures are dialed up to eleven. Hints of lime, ginger and spice add complexity to this intense, wonderfully complex rum. Although a bit of a splurge, I would be thrilled to have it on my bar for cocktails. The Organic is made from hand-harvested sugar cane, distilled in copper creole stills and bottled at 71.2% abv

The Rhum Agricole Les Mangles is a single parcel, single cane rum. Rich and explosive in feel, the Mangles possesses tremendous depth right out of the gate. Dried flowers, leather, earthiness, herbs and a touch of mint add striking complexity, but more than anything, the Mangles is a rum of textural density. Pretty floral and spice accents round out the finish. It's another intense, full-bodied rum from Père Labat, bottled at 70.7% abv.

The 2009 Single Barrel Fut is a tiny bottling of 12-year-old Rhum Agricole aged in a bourbon barrel. Soft and delicate, with striking complexity, the 2009 is lights out. Maraschino cherry, spice, dried flowers, orange peel, leather, cedar, chocolate and sweet toasted oak lend tons of aromatic and flavor complexity. The 2009 is outstanding, but readers have to expect a rum with a pretty strong oak imprint. Time in wood does seem to attenuate the power found in Père Labat's young Rhum Agricole. The 2009 Single Barrel was bottled at 61% abv. I loved it.

The Armagnac Les Carré des Fantômes is a single parcel field-blend bottling of Plant de Graisse, Mauzac Blanc, Meslier St François, Jurançon Blanc, Mauzac Rosé and Clairette de Gascogne, six nearly extinct varieties. It is an especially airy, floral and savory style of Armagnac, maybe a bit classically austere in profile, but also incredibly intriguing. Light in color, with slightly nutty, oxidative overtones, the Carré des Fantômes is an absolutely gorgeous spirit. It is a beautiful, eccentric Armagnac that requires an inquisitive palate to fully appreciate. Batch 08.

The 1990 Single Cask Armagnac is a fabulous choice for readers looking for an Armagnac with the gentle, burnished character that only comes from long maturation in cask. Soft and engaging, the 1990 is an absolute delight. Scents of dried figs, spice, caramel, crushed herbs, leather, barrel toastiness and dried flowers are all woven together. No topping during aging results in a spirit with gorgeous complexity that develops in a very gradual oxidation that has taken place over more than thirty years. Lovely.

The 2006 Calvados Single Cask was distilled from a mix of more than 40 varieties of apples and spent 15 years in French oak prior to being bottled at cask strength. It offers a gorgeous combination of bright fruit and the more complex notes conferred by aging in barrel, all with the softness achieved with time. Gentle smoke, spice, leather, orange peel and dried flowers all grace this exquisite, wonderfully complex, delicate Calvados.

The Armagnac XO from L'Encantada is a blend of eight barrels spanning vintages 2006 to 1986 from five different domaines. It marries the power of Armagnac with notable elegance and tons of finesse. A spirit with no hard edges and fabulous balance, the XO is magnificent. Fruit, floral, spice, dried fruit, caramel and subtle oak notes are all beautifully woven together. The XO is a fabulous introduction to a range mostly composed of single barrel offerings. The purity here is just superb. This is bottled at cask strength, so there is plenty of intensity, yet this lies on the more refined side of Armagnac.

The Corn Whisky Bota NO 2021 is a single barrel bottling made from 100% Spanish corn from the joint venture between Equipo Navazos and importer Nicolas Palazzi. It was aged for 15 years in an Oloroso Sherry cask, with no topping (hence the designation 'NO') and bottled at full proof. A powerful, explosive spirit, the Corn Whisky is packed with scents of scorched earth, game, leather and earthiness. There's not a lot of subtlety here, but I doubt that is the point. Bottled in 2021.

The Cognac Hommage a Yves & Jean-Noel Pelletan is a tiny blend comprised of one barrel of 1965 and a few demijohns going back to 1925. It is the last bottling from Palazzi's days of buying and blending Cognacs under his own label. Quite potent in the glass, the Hommage is a bit rustic, but also incredibly authentic in feel. The explosive power is palpable. It's a Cognac for readers who appreciate structure and body more than restraint. The Hommage was bottled at cask strength and dedicated to master coopers Yves and Jean-Noel Pelletan.

The Eau de Vie Gravenstein Apple is packed with fruit flavor, spice and strong dried white notes. There's wonderful savoriness and tartness to balance some of that fruity character, along with tons of depth and what comes across as strong skin character. This is one of four eau de vies in Rochelt's gift box set.

The Eau de Vie Morello Cherry is one of my favorite eau de vies in this collection. Creamy and expansive, the Morello is all finesse. Crushed red-fleshed fruit, spice, sweet floral accents and a kick of warmth all come together in a spirit that is impeccably balanced from start to finish. The depth and explosive complexity here are off the charts. This is one of four eau de vies in Rochelt's gift box set.

Rochelt's Eau de Vie Wachau Apricot is ridiculously great. Intensely aromatic, Wachau with almost tropical overtones, the Apricot is so expressive from the very first taste. Yellow orchard fruit, ginger and soaring aromatics stain the palate. It's an eau de vie that deeply satisfies both the hedonistic and intellectual senses. I will remember tasting it for a very, very long time. What a knockout. This is one of four eau de vies in Rochelt's gift box set.

The Eau de Vie Quince starts off quite subtle and then explodes through the mid-palate and into the finish. Strong mineral and earthy undertones give the Quince uncommon complexity to play off fruit flavors. Deep and expansive, with tons of character, the Quince is wonderfully complete, but also quite imposing. There's a ton of power and substance here, with an almost phenolic quality that lingers on the finish. This is one of four eau de vies in Rochelt's gift box set.

The Eau de Vie Mirabelle Plum was distilled in 2009, and then aged in glass balloons, in the classic Rochelt style. It is wild, penetrating and full of character. The feeling here is one of focus and length, more than the body found in some of the other eau de vies in this collection. Sweet floral and savory notes continually open in a spirit of uncommon finesse and nuance. The Mirabelle hovers on the palate with wonderful elegance. What a knockout.

Radio Imbibe Episode 46: Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits

The cover story of our March/April 2022 issue features brandy, and for this episode, we wrap up our coverage of the spirit with Nicolas Palazzi. Born in Bordeaux and now living in Brooklyn, Palazzi is the founder of PM Spirits, an importer and distributor of specialty spirits, including Cognac, Armagnac, and Calvados. For this episode, we talk with Palazzi about his search for memorable barrels of brandy, what he looks for in great brandies, and his work to bring these spirits to an American audience. 

Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid culture, exploring the people, places, and flavors of the drinkscape through conversations about cocktails, coffee, beer, spirits, and wine. Keep up with us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. And if you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you join us—click here to subscribe.  

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JUICY FRUIT

From vineyard or orchard to bottle and bar, brandy’s influence runs deep.

Cognac, Armagnac, applejack, schnapps—in whichever form brandy is found, these spirits made from fruit have no parallel in the glass. While whisk(e)y, tequila, and rum get lots of love these days (deservedly so) from cocktail lovers and spirits drinkers, brandy is evolving and emerging on its own terms, slowly building a fan base to take this timeless spirit into the future.

We’re taking a closer look at today’s world of brandy—the ways it’s made and appreciated around the world, the details behind its complex production, and the reasons it should be the next bottle you reach for when cocktail hour rolls around.

Nicolas Palazzi

Bordeaux-born and Brooklyn based, Palazzi is the importer behind PM Spirits, specializing in independent spirits such as L’Encantada Armagnac, Cognac Frapin, and Cobrafire eau-de-vie de raisin.

“Something that’s really cool is when you’re in a brandy cellar, with 50, 60, 100 casks in front of you; even if they’re from the same batch of distillation, every cask is its own world. You could taste 15 casks distilled the same day, and you’ll find tremendous differences between them—whereas something like bourbon would be very consistent. There’s so much aroma and flavor profile available in brandy. If someone thinks Cognac is just one thing and it’s boring or they don’t like it, I assure you, I can find a single-cask Cognac that’ll blow your socks off. It’s a world that deserves to be discovered, for sure.”

Straight From the Barrel

“...Hommage a Yves & Jean-Noel Pelletan, the rare cask-strength Cognac, has a boldness that belies the softly nuanced quality its category is known for.”

Geeky Cocktails: Meet the Man Behind the Artisanal Spirits Movement

Geeky Cocktails: Meet the Man Behind the Artisanal Spirits Movement

When Nicolas Palazzi quit his day job as a chemical engineer in 2008, the spirits world got a little more interesting. The French native had moved to New York City to manage a medical research lab, but brought with him a curiously intense affinity for rare-cask Cognac. Dismayed by the lack of like-minded, handcrafted products on the market in the U.S.—where the spirits scene was still largely focused on big-name brands despite a booming, more intelligent cocktail culture—he set out to learn the business from the ground up. He officially launched his import company, PM Spirits, in early 2011 with just two independent Cognac producers (Paul Beau, Guillon-Painturaud) and six products. Now his book includes profound Spanish brandies, grappa from famed Sicilian avant-gardiste Frank Cornelissen, and Mexican Fernet (a bitter liqueur).

Palazzi is being lauded by beverage authorities nationwide as the go-to for distillates of character and terroir, and Palazzi’s unique bottles now line the shelves of restaurant and bar greats like The NoMad in New York City, Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, D.C., and Scopa Italian Roots in Venice, California. Had an interesting digestif you’d never heard of before while out dining? That might have been made possible through Palazzi’s meticulous sourcing. He talks to Vogue.com about cocktails, “geeky” spirits, and the six bottles he’s most excited about now.

The tagline on your website is “provider of geeky spirits.” What does “geeky” mean in the spirits world?

When it comes to spirits in general, one doesn’t buy a product, one buys a brand. They buy the marketing and the status that the label conveys, but they don’t have a gauge on the true quality of the stuff inside the bottle, how it was made, who made it, and why it tastes the way it does. So by “geeky,” we mean the other stuff. It’s made by real people. It has an actual flavor profile that is specific to the place in which it’s made and the ingredients it’s made from. It’s not sweetened to death, artificially colored, or made to be as innocuous as it can be.

From that perspective, it seems to be as much about supporting the little guy as it is about supplying cool products.

It absolutely is. We want them to keep doing what they’re doing. When you start working with somebody, and they’re distilling out of a shack or their house is run-down, and you come back a year and a half later and see that they’ve made improvements. . . I’m not saying it’s 100 percent because of what we’ve done, but there is something rewarding about working with real people and the fact that the money spent buying these products can go toward their living and the creative process as opposed to feeding some giant company. I have nothing against big companies, but that makes it more meaningful to me. And the other result is that we’re educating people; we’re getting the authentic stuff to the people who will care about it. We’re showing them what these spirits used to taste like before mass marketing existed and can still taste like today.

What is a typical reaction of someone tasting spirits in your portfolio who is more used to tasting name-brand products?

People are not sure what to expect. A lot of people start out thinking that they’re doing us a favor by tasting these products that they’ve never heard of before, but they end up realizing that there’s a world of difference. I had one buyer who thought he didn’t like Cognac, then after one taste of the Paul Beau VS, he lit up. He was all, “Oh, wow, that’s really interesting,” and, “That’s a set of aromas and flavors I’ve never experienced before.”

There’s something extra that happens in the brain with the sensory experience of taste. When you taste something new and you love it, there’s an emotional connection that takes place. At that point, the person is not likely to forget it. They know you’re not fooling around and will want to see what else you have in your bag, even if it’s not something that will appeal to their particular clientele. They know you’re not wasting their time.

Would you say that the movement toward artisanal spirits is picking up speed, like what we saw happen to the craft-beer category?

It has definitely changed over the last six or seven years. Before, nobody cared, really. If you take bourbon as an example, you used to be able find anything you’d want and more on the shelves for a lot less money because people just didn’t know about it. And now certain bourbons are unavailable and allocated. Spirits are becoming cool. Drinkers have started paying more attention to what they’re drinking. I think that’s good news for everyone involved.

What is the coolest cocktail that you’ve encountered made with one of your spirits?

In Texas, I saw a sidecar made with a single-cask Cognac from a producer named Gourry [de Chadeville] that I brought in last year. This Cognac is distilled in a wood-fired pot still and is 64.3 percent alcohol, so that is a pretty kick-ass sidecar. You can’t drink too many of them! And at Cane & Table in New Orleans, they’re making a daiquiri with a rum I sourced in Spain from the sherry producer Equipo Navazos. It’s a bold daiquiri and is totally delicious.

What’s the latest addition to your portfolio that you’re most excited about? The thing that we don’t know about yet but will?

Calvados! I was lucky enough to be introduced to Eric Bordelet, the cider-maker in Normandy. It turns out the guy has been distilling for a number of years but never released anything. He’s doing single-cask full-proof unfiltered Calvados, distilling from both his cidre and his poiré (pear cider). Plus, his mentor was Didier Dagueneau, the famed Pouilly-Fumé winemaker, so everything is aged in ex-Silex casks from Dagueneau. It’s incredibly cool and will be available stateside in the beginning of 2016.

Intrigued? Here are six unique bottles Palazzi recommends adding to your bar (or gifting a very good friend):

Navazos-Palazzi Double Barreled Cask Strength Spanish Rum
A 100 percent molasses-based rum from the Antilles. Dark, meaty, with a nuttiness derived from the Oloroso sherry cask it ages in for more than ten years. Finishes bone dry. Only 1,500 bottles produced per year.

H. Beudin Single Cask 18 Year Calvados
Calvados with a kick, bottled at full proof. Gives a sense of what the pure stuff tastes like when sampled from a cask. Selected by star cider-maker Eric Bordelet.

Gourry de Chadeville Grande Champagne Cognac
One-man operation led by Pierre Goursat Gourry on nearly 25 acres of vineyards in Grande Champagne. A young, bold Cognac reminiscent of ripe apple and smoke, it spends seven years in an ex-first growth Sauternes cask.

Domaine d'Aurensan 1975 Single Cask Armagnac-Ténarèze
Like a vintage-dated Armagnac on steroids, with zero sugar, zero water, and zero coloring added. Distilled by the Rozès family. Mature flavors of dried prune, leather, and earth, with a seemingly endless finish.

Laurent Cazottes Poire Williams Eau-de-Vie
Distilled from organic pears dried to concentrate their flavor and then the pits, seeds, and stalks removed. Only 200 half-bottles of this Poire Williams come in to the U.S. each year.

Frank Cornelissen MunJebel Rosso Grappa
What happens when Sicily's most emblematic natural winemaker makes grappa. Distilled in a wood-fired vapor still from volcanic Mt. Etna’s indigenous Nerello Mascalese grapes.

What is Armagnac? Exploring Cognac’s Older Cousin

How Armagnac is Made

“Essentially, Cognac is more like Tequila, and Armagnac is more like mezcal in the way it’s produced,” says Nicolas Palazzi, owner of importer and distributor, PM Spirits, “but not in flavor [although it can occasionally share similar notes with the agave spirit].” Armagnac is a bit more artisanal in nature, and every producer creates a product to their own proof and style making it a fan favorite for spirit nerds.

Armagnac is allowed to use 10 grape varieties in production, but typically only use four: Ugni blanc, Baco, Folle Blanche, and Colombard; whereas in Cognac they use around 99% Ugni blanc. More variety in the raw material allows for Armagnac to express a diversity in flavor that Cognac cannot. When you also consider the terroir — the soil, climate, and hand of the maker — Armagnac truly distinguishes itself in character.

“There is something really interesting in picking grapes and making a product that has a true personality and seeing that product at a stage where it hasn’t become a very popular spirit [like Cognac] that has been modified to try to appeal to the general public,” says Palazzi. “Armagnac is very terroir-driven, it feels like you can connect with the history of the land and its rich history.”

In terms of distillation, 95% of Armagnac production is distilled with an alembic column still, whereas Cognac has to be pot-distilled, Palazzi notes. “Some are using pot still as well,” he says, although it’s a rarity.

After being distilled, the liquid is typically aged in 400-liter French oak casks — typically local, Gascony oak — and is then classified as VS, VSOP, Napoleón, or XO (Hors d’âge), depending on how long it has been aged for, with XO being the oldest age statement meaning the distillate has seen a minimum of 10 years in the cask. It’s also common for Armagnac producers to release vintages, like wine, but this will be more of a rarity as the category continues to rise in popularity.

After aging, the Armagnac is either bottled at cask strength, or proofed down. “The reason why Cognac is typically 40% ABV is to stretch out the amount they’re able to produce because of the demand,” Palazzi notes. “In Armagnac, you’ll find more full-proof bottling because they aren’t under the pressure of hitting numbers so they can focus on creating the best product possible [regardless of proof].” This means that each bottle will have its own distinct character, which isn’t always the case with other brandies.

Some producers to note are: Domaine Boignères, Château de Pellehaut, Domaine Espérance, Domaine d’Aurensan, but there are many others creating exceptional brandies as well in the region.

READ/LISTEN HERE

Cobrafire Eau-de-Vie de Raisin

An unaged blanche (white) Armagnac produced in the Bas Armagnac sub-appellation. It’s an undiluted, unadulterated expression of exactly what a French brandy should taste like. At 51.5% ABV, it’s also begging to make it into your next Martini.

PM Spirits VS Bas Armagnac Overproof

Importer PM Spirits teamed up with renown production house, Domaine Espérance, to release their own label of VS overproof (51.7% ABV) Armagnac. For the price you’ll pay, it’s an absolute steal and must-try.