THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS TAKES BRANDY FIRST

 

Cognac Christmas Tree

Brandy covers a wide spectrum of fruit spirits, from the awesome grape armagnacs, pisco, grappa and brandy jerez, to the apples and pears in Calvados, or cherries in kirsch.

Brandy is warma and fits well with all Christmas dishes and it is historically correct for who wants to be traditional.

During the 19^th century, cognac, a specific type of brandy, had become the tipple for Europe, and despite relations with the French, the British championed the stuff. The Irish meanwhile kept their eyes smiling while opening their own houses – Richard Hennessy being the most renowned purveyor.

And as the American cocktail revolution took hold in the mid 19^th century, it was cognac that was at the base of classics we still venerate today. Alas, the progress of the spirit was severely hindered in the 1870s when French vineyards were attacked by the devastating phyloxera pest, and as the grape growers stewed in their wrath, whisky nipped in to claim the discerning drinking crown.

... see more details here...

Source: Life Spectator

EXPERIENTIAL LUXURY WITH COGNAC LOUISX III

Pharrel Williams and Recor Made of Clay for 

Louis XIII Cognac’s most recent activation is a great example of how luxury brands are aligning with meaningful causes and influencers to appeal to luxury consumers’ growing desire to feel their purchases are part of something bigger than themselves.

Luxury brands once relied on the tailored customer experience perfected at boutique storefronts on the most fashionable streets of the world’s most glamorous cities to bring their ethos to life.

With a new generation of luxury consumers interacting with brands online rather than in-person, it can be difficult for a brand to differentiate itself and play up the nuances of its legacy, heritage, and superior production.

Thus, many brands from across all luxury sectors are turning to activations, or experiential marketing, as an opportunity to provide the high-level, white-glove experience that is missing in the digital customer relationship.

Read more at ...

Source:  Skift

TRAINING IS IMPORTANT TO CREATE THE FUTURE GENERATION OF LUXURY CRAFTSMAN SAYS LVMH

 & EDU

On Monday, the LVMH group started its first Italian professional training programme in Florence, where it established a branch of the Institut des Métiers d’Excellence (IME), its vocational training institute. On this occasion, the French luxury group’s Director for Human Resources and Synergies, Chantal Gaemperle, spoke to FashionNetwork.com about the new needs of the luxury goods industry.

“…LVMH’s training is a way of passing on our expertise, of preserving crafts which risk being lost, and of educating craftsmen to deliver excellence…”

“…crafts people transmit not just the quality of their expertise, but also their pride in creating fine products…”

“…Working in the luxury industry means… embracing the uncertainty and ambiguity of things, because we are part of a creative process. The world of luxury is full of paradoxes and tensions…”

Source: UK FashionNetwork

FAKE WINES LABELED HENNESSY FOUND IN CHINA

 

LVMH's Moet-Hennessy Unit, and logo

Source: the drinks business
by Natalie Wang
5th December, 2017

Following a formal complaint filed by French luxury group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce has busted a local Chinese wine company which has been selling counterfeit Rhône wines it claimed were made by Moët Hennessy.

The wines in question, purported to be Côtes du Rhône, are distributed by a company called Shanghai Haotuo International Trading Company Ltd based in Beijing's Fengtai District, and each wine carries a back label stating that it's made by Moët Hennessy, using its trademarked Chinese name, reported Beijing TV.

In fact, Moët Hennessy doesn't make wines in the Côtes du Rhône or indeed any part of the Rhône Valley.

Speaking of one of the wines called; 'Wan De Da Special Reserve', an officer called Zhang Peng with the bureau, explained that: "This is to mislead consumers to let them believe the wine is produced by Moët Hennessy."

However, the wine in question has a front label that says it's a Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet 2003 with a suspiciously sounding French company name called 'France Henris Co Ltd'. Henris in Chinese sounds phonetically similar to Moët Hennessy's Chinese name.

Another imperial bottle claimed to be made by Moët Hennessy with a Chinese name 'Wei Da Mu Special Reserve' is described as "the most treasured bottle" in the shop. It sells for a staggering RMB 99,999 (US$15,121) a bottle. The wine's label says it's a 2007 Côtes du Rhône Sablet, but its back label says it's made by Moët Hennessy.

According to the report, police found more than 500 bottles of counterfeit wines with labels saying they are produced by Moët Hennessy. The wines' retail prices at the shop range from RMB 300 to RMB 99,999.

In a Chinese statement by Moët Hennessy, the company reiterated that it "under no circumstances" had granted Shanghai Haotuo International Trading Company Ltd any right to use its company name, and the products are not produced by Moët.

It's unclear based on the report if any suspect has been arrested.

This is the latest case taken by Moët to crack down on counterfeit wines using its branded names. Previously the company won a court case against wine auction house Acker Merrall & Condit concerning a counterfeit bottle of Krug Collection 1947.

INCREASE SHOPPING FROM MILLENNIALS THIS END OF THE YEAR 2017

 

Cognac News and Economy

While most consumers (54%) say they’re keeping their holiday spending about even with last year, young adults (18-24 years old) are likely to increase theirs, according to survey released last week by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

• Barely a quarter (24%) of consumers overall say they’ll spend more this year, but nearly half (46%) of those aged 18-24 — which includes the oldest members of Generation Z — and 39% of those aged 25-34 years old, will spend more than they did a year ago.
• Many of America’s youngest consumers will also be heading to stores this season, according to a survey from Junior Achievement USA. Most (54%) plan to do much of their shopping at brick-and-mortar discount stores like Walmart and Target this holiday season. Less than half of teens (46%) said that they would be doing much of their shopping online, while about a third (34%) planned to head out to the shopping malls.

Source: RetailDive

NEVER REPLICATED COGNAC FROM HENNESSY - THAT'S BOLD!

 

Cognac Hennessy Master Blender's No2

Hennessy's getting into Craft Cognac

Hennessy has launched the second release in its limited edition Master Blender’s Selection series. Master Blender’s Selection N°2 is made from eaux-de-vie selected by former master blender Yann Fillioux and bottled at 43% abv. 

Fillioux’s nephew, Renaud Fillioux de Gironde, took over as master blender this past July, succeeding his uncle after a 50-year tenure.

The new bottling is composed of eaux-de-vie that are at least 10 years old, aged for 18 months in young coarse-grained French oak barrels before additional aging in old barrels. 

Hennessy Master Blender’s Selection N°2 is available now at a suggested price of $92 a 750-ml., exclusively in the U.S.

 

Cognac Hennessy Master Blender's No1

The Edition Limitee No1 had been released in October 2016.

Source: ShankenDailyNews

GRAND MARNIER TO BOOST ITS ORIGIN WITH COGNAC

 

Grand Marnier, Cognac, Liqueur, 1880, Quintessence

Grand Marnier is said to go back to its luxury roots and emphasize its connection with cognac. As you may know, Grand Marnier is made with cognac, and it is originally a cognac brand which became much more famous for its liqueur.

I could even venture to say that they kind of gave up on cognac a while back.

Grand Marnier was still part of the Marnier-Lapostolle family until last year in 2016 when Campari acquired it for $760 million.

Campari intends to take advantage of the current cognac boom and join in with the cognac association to Grand Marnier, and probably getting back into the cognac category.

The USA is Grand Marnier’s biggest market after France with 77% of its international sales.

Here is an excerpt from Shanken Daily News:

..."To capture some of the buzz around the Cognac category, Grand Marnier’s message will highlight that the core Cordon Rouge expression is 51% Cognac and 49% distilled bitter orange. “On-premise will continue to be a particular focus as we work to increase trial and reintroduce Grand Marnier to a new generation, many of whom don’t realize that Grand Marnier is more than half Cognac,” Batchelor explains.

While core label Cordon Rouge ($39.99) makes up the majority of the brand’s depletions, Grand Marnier’s portfolio has broadened over the years to include high-end marques that offer higher Cognac content. The brand’s Centenaire ($199.99), Cuvée 1880 ($349.99) and Quintessence ($899.99) extensions all use older eaux-de-vie and tweak the Cognac ratio, going all the way up to 91% Cognac for the Cuvée 1880. Although Cognac’s popularity has reached such a height that some brands—notably Hennessy—are seeing shortages, Grand Marnier master blender Patrick Raguenaud isn’t worried about stocks running dry, citing century-long relationships with grape growers throughout the region. “We have a collection of 450 winegrowers who supply Grand Marnier,” adds Batchelor. “Those strong and genuine relationships are at the core of Grand Marnier’s commercial activities."..."

Source: ShankenDailyNews

USA COGNAC SALES COULD SURPASS 6 MILLION CASES SOLD

 

Cognac Sales Image Logo Icon

Cognac continues to thrive in the USA with category leader Hennessy leading the way. Or dominating would be a more proper statement.

Depletion was 17% up in 2016 compare to 2015, with over 1 billion USD sales which is 5 times more than 2011 in the US.

Hennessy makes 1.6 billion USD sales of cognac/year/world and it is looking at beaking the 2 billion USD sales soon which would be the new high.

Remy Martin plays well as a 2nd with +9% sales and a volume of  823,000 cases sold in 2016.  Remy Martin is in contrast to Hennessy in particular focusing on non-VS qualities such as VSOP and 1738 Accord Royal, noting sales from Jan-Sept to be +15% with $431m worldwide, and interest for higher end cognac in the USA.

Courvoisier (owned by Beam Suntor) is the third-largest Cognac in the U.S., and advanced by 6.2% to 470,000 cases in 2016.

Martell (owned by Pernod-Ricard) ranked fourth, and crossed 100,000 cases last year on 6% growth after starting a come back in the USA in 2016. They had left to focus on China but ...
Cognac d’Ussé (a Bacardi brand) launched in 2012, made in 2016 +48% with 86,000 cases sold. It is produced by Cognac Otard not sure why Bacardi is not interested in Otard!

Source: ShankenNews

2017 HARVEST IN THE COGNAC REGION

 

Cognac Vineyard & Grappes

Cognac harvest and production is estimated better than expected in the Cognac Appellation this year 2017 with 90hl/ha reported the Sud Ouest newspaper.

With a % alcohol of 10% the extracted % is higher than expected making this a much better harvest than previously forecasted.

Source: SUDOUEST

NEW COGNAC: EX-SHERRY CASK FINISHED COGNAC BY COURVOISIER

 

Cognac Courvoisier ex-Sherry Casks

Beam Suntory has launched Courvoisier Sherry Cask Finish, a rich and complex cognac which has been matured in ex-sherry casks developing additional layers of flavour. Having first matured in French Limousin oak casks for years to develop its taste, the cognac undergoes a second maturation in ex-sherry casks.

This new product is being released in duty free stores, 40% ABV, 70cl, €50.

This new product is hoping to appeal to both traditional cognac drinkers as well as malt whisky drinkers and those looking for something different.

Courvoisier Sherry Cask Finish is the first bottling in Courvoisier’s Masters Cask Collection and it is pushing the boundaries of the category.

Courvoisier is the 2nd large cognac house to get into this kind of cognac finished category, with Martell being the first with the Swift model finished in ex-Bourbon casks.

This is the 2nd Cognac finished in ex-Sherry casks. I was actually the first to release sherry casks finished ex-Sherry casks in 2014, and I actually won best cognac category with my ex-Sherry casks finished cognac in the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Long lived these casks finished!!! Great to have Courvoisier join-in with me.

Source:  TheDrinksReport
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COGNAC MARTELL INTRODUCED H.O.M.E. IN THE USA

 

Home by Martell

Martell introduces the world of H.O.M.E. at a private mansion party in Hollywood Hills with Grammy-nominated songstress Jhené Aiko served as the ambassador for the Los Angeles-based event, which other guests such as Quavo and Jamie Foxx.

Martell is working on the theme that everyone can enjoy nice coctails at home.

Sources: Home by Martell, Ebony

GROWTH OF SALES OF COGNAC FOR THE THIRD YEAR

 

Cognac Sales Image Logo Icon

In 2016-17, and for the third year in a row, cognac export figures showed increases , of 10.2% in volume and 15.2% in value. In total, 190.2 million bottles were exported this year, for a total revenue of 3.0 billion euros.

The NAFTA region was the leading market, with an increase of 9.3% in volume and 13.5% in value, helped by the US market, with an historic 78.7 million bottles shipped during the period.

Source: www.BNIC.com

BNIC PREDICTS THAT THE 2017 COGNAC HARVEST WILL BE ON 10TH SEPTEMBER

 

Cognac landscape photo

Harvest was initially expected on 15th Sept. but it has been moved earlier to the 10th September according to Bureau National Inteprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC). Average date for harvest is historically approx. 23rd Sept.

The BNIC expects that the 2017 will be the smallest harvest since 1945 due to various weather conditions and in particular the late frost in May.
In late August 2017, the average acidity was 11.1 g/L H2SO4 for a  pH of 2.8 and with a potential alcohol % of 7.4%.

The area of the Cognac AOC not damaged by frost can expect 110 to 120 hecto liter per hectar of wine, whereas the frozen vineyard areas will only make 40 to 50 hl/ha, which will make a potential harvest on average for 2017 of 80-90 hl/ha.

Normally, the average is over 100 hl/ha, with an average for the past 10 years being of 107 hl/ha.
This is caused by the lower number of grapes per bunch with 37.5 grapes per bunch compared to the average of 53.5 grapes for the past 10 years.

Surprisingly, the grapes bunch weighted about 420g which is well above the 10 years average of 357g.
The BNIC recommends harvesting grapes with a rate of alcohol of 8.5 to 10.5% for an total acidity above 7.5 g/l H2SO4.

Source: Vitisphere

SCHAUS TAKES OVER NAVARRE FOR CEO OF LVMH'S MOET-HENNESSY DIVISION

LVMH's Moet-Hennessy Unit, and logo

Moët Hennessy’s Christophe Navarre is stepping down from his role as CEO, departing the drinks company to focus full-time on his investment fund Neptune International. Navarre joined LVMH in 1997 as president and CEO of JAS Hennessy & Co., and has served as CEO of LVMH’s Moët Hennessy division.

This division is composed of a portfolio which includes Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Ruinart, Krug and Veuve Clicquot Champagne brands, but also spirits with Hennessy Cognac,  Glenmorangie Scotch whiskies, Ardbeg Scotch whiskies and Belvedere Vodka, and other wines such as Cheval des Andes, Newton Vineyard, Numanthia and Terrazas de los Andes.

Hennessy, in particular, has enjoyed an impressive rise during Navarre’s management, with the brand surging 22% to 3.7 million cases in the U.S. last year, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the overall Cognac market.

Philippe Schaus, who currently manages LVMH’s luxury travel retail division DFS Group, has been named as Navarre’s successor. A 14-year LVMH veteran, Schaus previously served as executive vice president of Louis Vuitton between 2009 and 2011, and was named chairman and chief executive officer of DFS in 2012.

ARMENIA IS INCREASING PRODUCTION OF BRANDY

 

Ararat 5 Years Old Armenian Brandy

Armenia is increasing their production of brandies according to the Armenian-French news magazine, Armenews, with 80% increased production.
Bid brand of brandies such as Ararat (Pernod Ricard) or Noy are looking like they are expanding sales overseas.
Looks like things are changing!

Source: Armenews
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MICRO-DISTILLERIES MAKING SPIRITS AWAY FROM STANDARDS

 

Japanese Kikori Rice Whisky

There are about 200 distilleries in Scotland to produce Scotch whisky, and 3000 distilleries in the Cognac region to produce cognac, and these numbers are pretty stable for decades. There are now about 1300 distilleries in the USA, a big jump from the 200 distilleries back 10 years ago.

What do they do?

Some make standard spirits in their category, while other try to step out the trenches.
The Whiskey Wash offers a list of what they call 'weird whiskeys', which too me look fine.

1. Koval Distillery in Chicago, Illinois make a whiskey of 51% corn—no surprises there—and then 49% millet, a rarely-used grain that’s actually closely related to corn.
2. Early Times Kentucky Whisky (no “e”) is made just like bourbon in all respects, except for one very important one. Instead of using exclusively new charred oak casks for maturation, about 20% of the aging stock is stored in used oak casks.
3. Kikori Rice Whisky. While most Japanese whisky is made from malted barley, just like Scotch, Kikori Rice Whisky uses a different grain: rice. www.kikoriwhiskey.com
4. Dry Fly Triticale Whiskey is made from wheat or rye aren’t that unusual, but Triticale is a hybrid grain combining wheat’s productivity with rye’s toughness. 
5. White Owl Whisky is made from aged stock that is put through a filtering process that strips all color out of the spirit. A clear whisky!

Source: Whiskey Wash

BRANDY IS BEING REVIVED BY E&J GALLO

Argonaut Brandy is new, by E&J Gallo


[ENG] E&J Gallo, a massive and trend-making machine company in the wine & spirits industry is making news for its recent stake into the super premiun and craft brandy category in the USA. First, E&J Gallo released late July 2017 its long awaited Brandy Argonaut which is inspired by the brandy movement prior to prohibition.
Then, they acquired Brandy Germain-Robin mid-August. Clearly something huge is going to happen now!


Argonaut Brandy, 3 different styles, produced by E&J Gallo

[FR] Ca bouge dans la categorie 'Brandy' aux USA, j'ai meme envie de dire que ca bouge beaucoup.
Fin juillet 2017, E&J Gallo lance Brandy Argonaut, un brandy craft a la mode americaine, plutot Californienne devrais-je dire.
Et mi-aout 2017, E&J Gallo, encore, prend acquisition de la maison prestigieuse Brandy Germain-Robin.
Mais qu'est-ce qui se passe?

Sources: Gallo, Argonaut Brandy, Tasting Panel Magazine

COGNAC REMY MARTIN IS GETTING NOTICED IN GHANA, AFRICA

 

Remy Martin in Africa, Ghana

Cognac Remy Martin is like many of the major cognac houses investing in Africa.
In a recent article in Ghana Web, they discuss red carpet events in Ghana and in this article they make a very interesting presentation of Remy Martin which I am re-posting here.

===> Cognac Remy Martin is rooted in 6 core pillars:

1) Rooted in winegrowing
1724 marked the beginning of Rémy Martin, the only major cognac house to have been founded by a winegrower.

2) Rooted in family
Rémy Martin has been a family business for three centuries, run by two families who share the same values: the Rémy Martin and the Hériard Dubreuil.

3) Rooted in chalk
To craft its cognacs, Rémy Martin has made the radical choice of specializing in Cognac Fine Champagne in 1948. This means using grapes only from Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, the two most sought after growing areas of the region, which chalky soils grow the most aromatic grapes.

4) Rooted in time
Rémy Martin already understood the magical effects of time: how a company, just like a spirit, can develop and grow finer with age.

5) Rooted in talent
Rémy Martin believes in entrepreneurship and in the talent of people, as it believes in the talent of nature

6) Rooted in harmony
Rémy Martin has a signature cognac style based on harmony thanks to the traditional use of distillation on the lees – with the residual yeast - in small copper stills.

Source: GhanaWeb

MORE ONLINE AUCTIONS FOR WHISKIES

 

Whisky Auctions Logo Icon

Whisky auctions are facsinating as you can see so much dynamism and enthusiasm, with growing demand for the US and Asia.

Any question as to whether the recent increases in the rare whisky market would begin to plateau can be dismissed.

The Spirits Business reports:

"...Collectors bought 21,617 bottles of Scotch malt whisky at UK auctions in April, May and June this year, compared to 12,638 in the same period in 2016 – an increase of 71%...

...In total, $8.10m was spent on rare whisky at auction compared to $3.67m in the same period in 2016 – an increase of 121%.

...The growing popularity of online auctions, combined with recent moves by traditional rare whisky retailers to set up their own auction sites, continues to drive demand. By joining the secondary market sector, these ‘bricks n mortar’ retailers have finally realised that they can’t afford to lose rare whisky customers to the auction market..."

Source: The Spirits Business

KENYA IS THE NEW MARKET FOR COGNAC IN AFRICA

 

Cognac Hennessy in Kenya

After pushing hard in Nigeria, Hennessy is now starting to distribute its cognac in Kenya to take the opportunity of Africa’s second-largest luxury-goods market, with a market growth expected to be double digit.

In 2017, Kenya has 9,400 dollar millionaires, fourth-highest in Africa, and 17000 millionaires are expected in 2027.

Kenya was Africa’s second-largest market for luxury goods in 2016, with revenue of about $500 million, up 25 percent from a year earlier, according to a report by New World Wealth, a Johannesburg-based research group. The country ranked behind South Africa’s $2.3 billion market and ahead of Nigeria, it said. Brands like Hennessy are expanding their reach on the continent to tap into growing numbers of middle-class and rich people.

Source: Bloomberg

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE EXPLAINING WHY PEOPLE CLING GLASSES

 

Clinging Glasses

When celebrating people cling glasses. Have you ever wondered why?

The original reason has been lost in history but there are 2 main theories.

===>Theory One:
When drinking all the senses are activated beside hearing. Hence, clinging allows people to taste and hear, not so much the beverages but at least the glasses.

===>Theory Two:
A long time ago a common manner of assassination was poisoning people. Hence, people prevented from this by clinging glasses against each other to spill across glasses and reduce the risks of poisoning intents.

===>Theory Three:
Originally people only used one glass and shared it among the guests. When people introduced more glasses they used the physical contacts between the glasses instead of the physical gesture of passing the one glass around.

BRANDY MORPHEUS, HUGE BRAND FROM INDIA

 

Brandy Morpheus, Produced and sold in India

There are many brands of brandy we do not know, and in particular brands made in countries like India which brands we may not be familiar with, but still sells in millions of bottle. The most sold brown spirits are whisky, followed by brandy and then rum. India has a large production of whiskies and brandies.

Morpheus Brandy is a 1 million case brand sold and produced in India. It is owned by Indian drinks group Radico Khaitan.

It is described as "A brandy that is blended in the land of maharajas and nawabs. Containing the texture of warm soils and fragrant scents and all the richness of tropical weather, this brandy is bottled liquid gold. With its opulent copper tone and lush aroma." Commercial description.

I am curious to where exactly do they get the wines to distill this brandy from?

India has a huge consumption of brandy, but brandy only made in India at this time.

LAMBAY IRISH WHISKEY FINISHED IN COGNAC CASKS IN IRELAND

 

Lambay Irish Whiskey

Cognac Camus has partnered with Alexander Baring, 7^th Baron of Revelstoke to create Lambay Irish whiskey, a new brand of Irish whiskey aged on Lambay Island off the east coast of Ireland. The private island is a wildlife sanctuary owned by the Baring since 1904.

Whiskeys will be aged on the Island in a dedicated cellar using ex-Cognac barrels.

Interesting!

Source: Moodie Report

MOET HENNESSY INVESTING IN AMERICAN CRAFT WHISKEY

 

Woodinville Whiskey

Woodinville Whiskey Co., another craft distillery has been bought out but this time by a huge Cognac & Champagne conglomerate, ie, Moët Hennessy.
This is the first time Moët Hennessy are making a move into the craft spirit movement. We know of their ownership of scotch whisky Glenmorangie and Ardberg, but they did not own any small craft spirits.

This follows a trend, last year Pernod bought West Virginia's Smooth Ambler Spirits Co., while Remy Cointreau acquired Westland Distillery also located in the State of Washington.

The sale is a strategic move by the founders Brett Carlile and Orlin Sorensen to help Washington State's largest distillery to grow and expand since establishement in 2010.
Originally, the whiskeys were only available in the State of Washington but one can imagine this will change now.

Source: Woodinville Whiskey Co.

DRAKE LAUNCH AN AMERICAN WHISKEY AS THE FIRST SPIRIT OF A SPIRIT LINE UP

 

Drake Virginia Black Whiskey

After George Clooney Tequila Casamigos, which he sold to Diageo for 1 billion dollars singer Drake is getting some ideas.

Diageo is set to pay $700 million initially, with the potential of another $300 million based on the tequila's performance over 10 years, according to CNBC.

Drake the Canadian rapper whose chart-topping hits have won him many Grammy Awards and Billboard Music Awards among other prizes launched in June 2016 Virginia Black Whiskey with ex-banker Brent Hocking and beverage marketing firm Promixo Spirits.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXwCKKHgG6k&w=560&h=315]

Virginia Black is now available in Burundi, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, and Zanzibar, as well as the UK and Canada, where it first launched.

Source: Virginia Black Whiskey

NEW SINGLE CASK SELECTION FROM THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

 

SMWS Single Cask Spirits, Cognac Selection of Single Casks

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) more known for their scotch whisky selection and single cask scotch whiskies is now introducing a few Single Cask Cognacs. This is not the first time as they had one Single Cask Cognac in late 2015.

In addition, they are working with Michelle Brachet who has recently joined the world of cognac after working on a documentary assignment about cognac in 2014 which got her started thinking about cognac, and her interests grew further since.

SMWS is rather influential in the scotch whisky category. Let's hope that their venture in creating other single cask selections and in particular cognac will get whisky drinkers to become interested in cognac.

Source:  TheDrinksReport.com

SALES GROWTH FOR CALVADOS BUT COUNTERFEITING COMES WITH IT

Calvados, Cider and Pommeau

Calvados is suffering counterfeiting as well now with a 7% growth/year. Fake or want-to-be brands are copying or just simply alluding to Calvados to gain consumer attention but this is not fair and fraud really.

Since the 1990 Calvados has enjoyed growth thanks to export in about 100 countries. It might not be the mainstrean spirit but the little protected appellation in Normandy is getting attention all across the world.
No wonder, an original Calvados is delicious and unequalled!

Source: RVI

OLD POTSTILL DISTILLATION IN FRANCE

Distilling Plum brandy in France using an old school trailer potstill for home made use.
'Fait Maison'!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCx4IHx2ZqM&w=560&h=315]

Source: Youtube.com

A STATEMENT ON TRADE SHOWS & VINEXPO BORDEAUX

Vinexpo 2017 Bordeaux Logo

Clearly Vinexpo has changed!Used to be the go-to Wine & Spirits trade show.Now there are competitors, such as Prowein. In addition, Vinexpo is later in the year, too late: ie, late June.

It has started cannibalizing itself with sub-regional Vinexpos such as Vinexpo Hong Kong and Vinexpo Tokyo, ie, if your Asian why going to Bordeaux. This March 2018 will start Vinexpo New York. If you are from America why will you go to Vinexpo Bordeaux any longer. Essentially, there are less reasons to go to Bordeaux than there were before.Plus Vinexpo is too wine focused and not enough spirit driven.

The Supervisory Board of Vinexpo SAS, which met on 6 April 2017, has appointed Christophe Navarre, Chief Executive Officer of Moët Hennessy, as its new President.Christophe Navarre, CEO of  Moët-Hennessy since May 2001, the wine & spirits group of LVMH, which includes Cognac Hennessy and other spirits, in particular the scotch whiskies Glenmorangie and Ardbeg and the vodka Belvedere, but also champagne brands such as Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Mercier, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart et Krug,  and many wine labels outside of France.Hence, Moët-Hennessy had a booth/display at Vinexpo 2017 last month.

Will Christophe Navarre mark a positive change for Vinexpo?

Source: Vinexpo-Newsroom

SUNTORY'S NEW SINGLE GRAIN WHISKY FROM CHITA DISTILLERY

 

Suntory's Chita Single Grain Whisky

Suntory launched a new Japanese single grain whisky in the UK named Chita Single Grain Whisky.
This whisky was matured into Spanish oak casks and American white oak casks.

The Chita Distillery was established in 1972 in Aichi region, and it has been dedicated for single grain distillation.

Source: Drinks International

FRENCH AND JAPANESE EXCELLENCE MIXED TOGETHER THROUGH SPIRITS

 

Monteru Brandy Ippon, Finished in Japanese Mizunara Oak Cask, same oak and cask used by the most famous Whisky made in Japan. First bottle ever, and bottle One of One.[/caption]

Experts and consumers are increasingly recognizing whiskies and single malts made in Japan as some of the best in the world. This reputation is largely explained by the type of oak casks the Japanese use to craft these whiskies called 'mizunara' oak. These original oak casks are more than 10 times more expensive than most of the commercial oak and often just not available outside of Japan.

Monteru Brandy since 2009 has started reviving the world of luxury brandy with revolutionary ideas such as crafting the first 'single grape brandy’ with a variety of grape varietals such as cabernet, chardonnay, merlot, etc.

In 2015, they offered a line of small batch of rare cask finished brandies including sauternes, sherry and heavily charred American oak cask finished. There is no 'run of the mill' to foresee coming out of Monteru, but the most transparent and inspiring craft spirits expected to come out from France with 96 pts and above from recent ratings.

Monteru Brandy is the result of the visionary leadership of Jean-Michel Naud and Franck Vigneron, artisan distillers and passionate cellar masters.
"We are very proud to offer a unique experience to the growing luxury brandy segment which are not only looking for innovations but also uncompromizing authentic products" says Pierre Naud, Monteru's international sales manager.

Today, once again, Monteru is innovating with the first ever brandy finished in Japanese mizunara cask. Not only this is the first ever brandy but the first ever French spirits crafted using oak casks made from authentic mizunara oak from Japan.

These casks were made using Japanese traditional cooperage methods and directly imported to the Maison Monteru in Charente Maritime, South West of France.

Before offering a small allocation of a few bottles from the first batch, Monteru Brandy will release a single bottle of Monteru Brandy Mizunara, limited bottle serial number 1 of one.

This one bottle limited edition is coming into an ultra luxury and custom presentation named 'IPPON' which means 'one piece' and 'a perfect full point' as this is the highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, a Japanese martial art.

Monteru Brandy Ippon was revealed to the public for the first time on Monday 19th june 2017 at Vinexpo 2017 in Bordeaux France. There was a real excitement among connoisseurs and journalists that knew of the importance for this release as this makes a full circle between today's many trends.
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MARC NEWSOME DESIGNS THE NEW HENNESSY XO

Hennessy XO, Limited Edition designed by Australian Marc Newsome

Hennessy is launching this mont of July 2017 a new XO Cognac created by industrial designer Marc Newson.

The limited edition Marc Newson designed Hennessy XO bottle will retail for $200.

In 2016, Hennessy reached 22% to 3.7 million cases in the U.S., which makes 75% of the cognac category, helping to keep the category relevant.

Source: Photo (www.hennessy.com)

COMANDON PRESENTS RARE COGNACS AND INNOVATIONS AT VINEXPO 2017

Vinexpo 2017 - Limited Edition Cognac, Showing Comandon[/caption]

Comandon Cognac for the 4th times in a row is showing its evolutionary and revolutionary cognac selections. From its pioneering single casks, about 50 of them to the single batch, called One-Off selections, with a new organic line of cognac to choose from.

The 2010 and 2014 World Best cognac winner is now available in 22 countries and is looking beyond (2 times world best cognac from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition).

SELLING COGNAC TO NON-TRADITIONAL COGNAC CUSTOMERS

Cognac Landscape

Cognac producers are looking at cocktails, product innovations (craft cognac) and new type of consumers to expand says Reuters in this video and article.

The purpose is to widen the consumer base without alienating the current and sort of traditional cognac customers, ie, Chinese and African American.

This is a rather difficult task as one can imagine that talking about celebrity appeals such as rappers and terroirs at the same time might be rather confusing.

Source: Reuters TV

WHAT IS CRAFT COGNAC?

Comandon Vintage Single Cask 2017

There has been a lot of discussions on what makes a spirit a craft spirit.

Perhaps its size, the volume of bottles being produced, family owned, ... etc...

However, it recently occured to me what craft may mean.

Comandon Cognac is increasingly becoming synonymous with "craft cognac" while reinventing itself. Comandon is a revived 1821 cognac brand once one of the largest producer of cognac in volume and sales that puts innovation and terroir at the heart of its process.  Much of its purpose is to question the traditional standards and to offer more innovative alternatives.

In particular, Comandon makes various cognac ranges that once drunk there is 'no more'. 

This concept of 'small batch' is common and perhaps necessary within the craft spirit category but Comandon's craft philosophy goes beyond this.

We produce many different 'Single Casks' which goes against the rhetoric of having a 'house style' or a 'secret blend' being repeated forever and ever, everyday with a standard consistency. The purpose of making single cask cognac is to demonstrate that there is no standard in cognac, and on the contrary to popular belief, the category has much variety to offer. Comandon provides about 50 different single casks to choose from at any time, and there seems to be at least one for everyone's taste.

Other interesting details include the filtration. It does not seem much but almost no other brand offers a selection of cognac wich are not cold filtered, also called un-chill filtered. 

Brown spirits, that is white spirits which have been aged in wood casks will eventually be filtered and most of them will be cold filtered. A cold filtration ensures that the brown spirits does not generate any sediments, deposits, crystals which to the untrained eyes looks like 'dirt'. Un-chill filtered cognac may with a brisk change of temperature create these small sediments. It is normal!

These sediments are the authentic manifestation of a cognac that was handcrafted because it was not filtered to the point of removing 'interesting' esters and oils that add to the flavors and aromas. However, most people do not know and will rightfuly assume that this is a problem.

This matter is commonly discussed in more than 100s of articles on the Internet by whisky fans, but never in the context of cognac. For 'crafted cognac' unchillfiltering will increase the likelihood of having sediments in the bottle, but if you do, you are the lucky one, meaning you are drinking crafted cognac.

Be honest! Do you want craft or not? If you do take the time to learn and understand.

Source: Comandon, Wikipedia - Cold Filtration

2017 WORLD BEST COGNAC GOES TO CROIZET EXTRA

Cognac Croizet Extra

Today the San Francisco Spirits Competition announced the winner of the 2017 world best cognac. For the first time Cognac Croizet receives this prestigious recognition. Congrats!

The Cognac Croizet Extra (about $230) received the highest score for the 'cognac' category but also for the overall brandy category which is very impressive.

Cognac Croizet has been recently noticed for its vintage and antique cognacs fetching high prices in wine & spirit auctions.

This prize marks a milestone in the many achievements recived by the brand since its establishment in 1805.

I also noticed a number of cognac brands which I had never heard before such as Blancrux, Honor, Marquis de La Fayette, Mery-Melrose and Voltaire.

Sources: SFSpiritscomp.com, Cognac Croizet

CONSUMER RESEARCH AND BIG DATA MARKETING USED BY SPIRIT BUSINESSES

Big Data Logo

Big data and marketing are being used in every industry including the spirit industry now.

According to SmartBrief

"Many beverage companies connect geographical data and purchasing trends to individual stores, while others collect data on influencers and use that data to engage with them in the form of multichannel campaigns and promotions.

Data has also become a powerful tool for optimizing assortments, streamlining supply chains, analyzing trends that appear on social media and planning and executing brand campaigns...

Companies track purchasing decisions at the item level via physical, online and mobile channels, and that data can be applied to making decisions about merchandising, assortment and supply chain.

But at the end of the day, just collecting data isn’t enough. Companies have to take a step further and turn that data into a decision-making tool to help optimize their beverage business."

Source: SmartBrief

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BRANDY MIGHT BE THE NEXT UP AND COMING SPIRIT WRITES THE NEW YORK TIMES

Fun Brandy not from main stream

"Brandy has become a quiet giant of the liquor industry. More than 13 million cases were sold domestically in 2016, outpacing gin, Scotch and Irish whiskey, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. And most of that — eight million cases — was American brandy", says The New York Times.

Craft Whiskey and craft beer consumers are increasingly looking up for the next best thing and brandy seems to be pointed at the horizon.

There are the 'American-cognac like' brandy maker such as Germain-Robin Brandy  and Osocalis Brandy.

And then, there are the modern brandy distilleries such as Copper & Kings in the middle of Whiskey country, Louisville Kentucky, but also Charbay in wine country of northern California.

Even "Christian Brothers, owned by Heaven Hill Distilleries, recently revamped its packaging, while this week Gallo, which owns E&J, already the best-selling brandy in the country, announced a new, premium brandy line called Argonaut, along with the reactivation of 20 traditional Cognac stills", says The New York Times.

This is good luck for Monteru Brandy which is offering copper pot still brandy form estate vineyards, and other cask experimental brandy selections.

Sources: New York Times, Osocalis Brandy, Copper & Kings Brandy, Germain Robin Brandy, Charbay

TALKING ABOUT SPIRITS CNN REPORTS ON SPIRIT AIRLINES

This blog is about spirits and in particular cognac, but I could not help but to want to share with you this news about a different type of spirit this time.

CNN in a recent articles report that "When it comes to customer satisfaction among airline passengers, Spirit Airlines ranks dead last."

I wonder why?

My suggestion is do not try to find out why. Just Google them and/or read this article from CNN. I think Spirits Airlines qualify for the 'not to do list' for pretty much everything when it comes to customer services. There is just none and whatever services they have, it seems they try harder to make it to a point that you promise yourself not to use them again.

It is too bad, it does not have to be this way.

Virgin America was great but it is almost gone when I write this blog, Delta Airlines is OK, and I would agree that Jet Blue is often good or more. It can be done. Just try harder and use the airlines as a 'Mystery Shopper' regularly so you can identify changes. From good to bad there are often times very small details to cover.

Source: CNN

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COGNAC MIGHT BE LOOSING 60% OF ITS HARVEST DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Cognac vineyard, landscape

A little bit of rain on Wednesday 26th April yesterday and -5 degrees celsius this morning at 5am caused an estimated 60% loss of  potential harvest. Today, the authorities are meeting to review the situation.

Early in the morning, producers were setting camp fires in every corners of their vinyards. Some went all the way to hire the service of helicopters to fly over the vineyards to mix the air in hope of rising the temperatures.

This is not good!

EXPERIENCING LUXURY WITH PORSCHE EXPERIENCE CENTER

Experiencing and consumer experiential marketing are becoming the big words in business these days.

I ran into the Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles (USA), which just opened in February 2017. What an experience! If you are into cars, sportscars and more so into Porsche, you need to check this place.

Porsche Experience Center

There is another Porsche Experience Center in Atanta (Georgia-USA), which is older.

Porsche Experience Center

The Porsche Experience Center offers driving lessons in the current Porsche for sale in their catalog, so you get to really test drive the car before you buy it. There is also sort of a museum of older race cars which you can see and touch, versus some behind a glass window being worked on as you would buy. There is also a boutique with Porsche accessories such as neat watch, clothing, books, etc. and 2 restaurants: one for a quick bit and a gourmet seat down style.

Porsche Experience Center

I cannot wait for them to open their doors for people to come with their Porsche to drive on the track!

Source: Porsche