Ferrand, BB&R Exclusive Single Cask, 32-Year-Old, Grande Champagne Cognac (60.4%)
About this SPIRIT
Maison Ferrand
Maison Ferrand is one of the world’s premier boutique producers of fine spirits, and the architect of the an historical spirits movement. The company was founded by Alexandre Gabriel in 1989 with a mission to preserve age-old, craft production methods that capture the true expression of the spirit, and a commitment to revisit the classics while advancing innovation.
The adventure began with Ferrand Cognac, a 100% Grande Champagne Cognac with roots in the region stretching back over four centuries and ten generations. In 1996, Alexandre created Citadelle Gin, the Gin de France, spearheading the movement for French gins. Due to strict regulations imposed by Cognac’s appellation d’origine controlee (AOC), Alexandre Gabriel was obligated to stop using his cognac stills for seven months of the year. After five long years of negotiations, he obtained the AOC authorization to distill gin during the period that the stills were usually dormant, giving the traditional copper pot stills new life and purpose.
Since 1989, surrounded by an enthusiastic team, Alexandre has dedicated himself to the mission of creating superb spirits that express the marriage of passion, terroir and the passage of time.
France
Despite their own complacency, occasional arrogance and impressive challenges from all-comers, France is still far and away the finest wine-producing nation in the world and its famous regions – Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Loire, Rhône, Alsace and increasingly Languedoc Roussillon – read like a who’s who of all you could want from a wine. Full-bodied, light-bodied, still or fizzy, dry or sweet, simple or intellectual, weird and wonderful, for drinking now or for laying down, France’s infinitesimal variety of wines is one of its great attributes. And that’s without even mentioning Cognac and Armagnac.
France’s grape varieties are grown, and its wines emulated, throughout the world. It also brandishes with relish its trump card, the untranslatable terroir that shapes a wine’s character beyond the range of human knowledge and intervention. It is this terroir - a combination of soil and microclimate - that makes Vosne-Romanée taste different to Nuits-St Georges, Ch. Langoa Barton different to Ch. Léoville Barton.
France is a nation with over 2,000 years of winemaking, where the finest grapes and parcels of land have been selected through centuries of trial and error rather than market research. Its subtleties are never-ending and endlessly fascinating. Vintage variation is as great here as anywhere – rain, hail, frost and, occasionally, burning heat can ruin a vintage. Yet all this creates interest, giving the wines personality, and generating great excitement when everything does come together.
However, this is not to say that French wine is perfect. Its overall quality remains inconsistent and its intricate system of classification and Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) based on geography as opposed to quality is clearly flawed, sometimes serving as a hindrance to experimentation and improvement.
Nevertheless, the future is bright for France: quality is better than ever before – driven by a young, well-travelled and ambitious generation of winemakers – while each year reveals new and exciting wines from this grand old dame.
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Description
A luscious counterpoint to the “elegance at all costs” mindset of many Cognac houses, Alexander Gabriel at Ferrand prefers allowing each cask to find its own path. In the case of this particular barrel, the voluptuous intensity and near-abyssal depth is precisely what made it irresistible to me. Stewed and dried citrus fruits interplay with the stickiest of fig puddings, furnishing a palate and finish that balances magnificently at full-throttle cask-strength. Chew this slowly after dinner as a fitting finale to any well-lived evening.
Rob Whitehead, Spirits buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (January 2023)spirit at a glance
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