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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What Makes Cognac Outstanding - A Perspective.

An interesting recent article from 'The Star online magazine' reports on Hennessy Cognac in Malaysia. I find this article pertinent as it reveals a set of perspectives on cognac which I believe explains what sets it apart from other types of spirits.

These characteristics are:

1) First it begins with the barrels. Made of French oak, specifically sourced from the forests of Limousin.

2) Light barrel toasting. When barrels are made they are burnt or rather fired inside to stimulate the chemical reaction with the contact of the spirits aging inside. The more you toast the bolder the smoky taste and the lesser other flavors will come out. There is a debate about toasting versus burning oak barrels. The difference is like when you prepare your breakfast and you have to set your brand new toaster (a) you do not know if 1 or 2 minutes will do and (b) everyone has a different preference in how much they like their bread to be toasted. An error of setting will get you to burn your toasts. Sometimes oak barrels are consciously burnt. cognac or armagnac's barrels are toasted, bourbon's oak barrels are for instance burnt. Try bourbon and you will see an overwhelming smoky taste because of that. Now, there is no good or bad, it is a question of tradition and choice.

3) Longer aging of eaux-de-vie. In general and by comparison cognac are aged longer. For instance, Tequilas are aged 5 years maximum. Why because a good tequila is about tasting the quality of the agaves being used to make it and with extended aging this goes away and it defeats the nature of this spirit.

4) Assemblage. I say assemblage rather than 'blending' as this term is being looked down as a way of getting ride of bad blends by mixing with good blends. Assemblage is more of a conscious type of selective blending - so I will say assemblage instead. And I insist cognac is about assemblage who ever is trying to tell you the opposite is wrong - period. "Single this" and "single that" is just inferior cognac but I agree the non-blended cognacs are more unique and why not trying them - but again this is not the nature of what cognac is about.

5) Factors like the weather, soil conditions and the timing of t he harvest. Terroir and tradition makes cognac a unique and original product.

6) Hence importance of the cellar. The cellar dryness and humidity dictate the smoothness and aromas. Higher humidity are favored.

7) Officially and/or unofficially endorsed by famous hip hop entertainers. Celebrities just do not drink eaux-de-vie or grapas, etc... That does not mean they are right.

8) I will add that cognac is the most expensive liquor. A bottle of cognac fetched 1 million yuan (US$156,740) at a recent auction in Shanghai, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, announcing the importance China will be taking in the market for the high-end liquors. This bottle was bought as a gift from a daughter to her father. It could happen to me, I have a daughter!

Source: Reference: http://tinyurl.com/7gjydx8
Source: Photo: http://www.gomoneyways.com/?p=43010