Micro-Spirits, Artisan Spirits, Boutique spirits, Small-Batch Spirits ... The Smaller The Better

Cognac Paradis Artisan Spirits

A great number of people are regaining interest for spirits and distilled products and this is a great thing as I believe with more knowledge and interests in spirits in general, people will naturally converge towards cognac. And once they find out about cognac their interest quickly migrate towards the other brands. What I mean by the other brands, the other 500 brands that constitutes 5% of the volume and that not many people know. In reality, cognac is a market driven by 4 brands controlling 95% of the market in sales volume.

When it comes to Micro-distillation and micro-entrepreneurship and micro-cognac business ... I think they are 100s of smaller brands that would make an interesting case. Perhaps this is not trendy or acceptable yet for Cognac Houses to say they are small or Micro or Artisan etc... Like it is in the Vodka, Gin, Tequila, spirit categories. In fact, everyone can see that the micro-brands when genuine are gaining considerable momentum in the media and consumer markets pretty much everywhere - even it is starting in France. I say even in France because a great number of innovations in the spirits industry comes from France, and Cognac is like the "Silicone Valley" of spirits when it comes to innovativeness, but do not expect much innovation coming from the French consumers. France is the 1st or 2nd largest consumer market depending on year per capita for "cheap" whisky - go figure! As you may know less than 3% of the cognac produced in France is consumed in France. By the way, 99% of this number is consumed by tourists in France. That leaves you with peanuts when trying to sell cognac in France - but they are some success stories, for instance, www.cognac-only.com

We have discussed and presented many lesser known Cognac Houses in "Cognac Paradis" for the past 2 years, there is so much to say that we will continue. However, one should not under evaluate the huge contributions from the large Cognac Houses in keeping cognac alive as a valid spirit in the industry and in consumer minds.

It is a fascinating market which takes more than a passion to follow it also requires a strong stamina and resilience to go through the changes and adjustments.