Cognacs for Easter


April 5, 2026

Cognacs for Easter

In short: cognacs. For this Easter Sunday, we decided to return to a few cognacs, some of which we hope may prove rather spirited. And so we begin with this traditional little apéritif from days gone by…

Courvoisier ‘V.S.O.P.’ (40%, OB, Fine Champagne, USA Transportation, +/-1990)

Oddly, the label rather prominently bears the word ‘transportation’, which would seem more commonly found on much older ‘American’ bottles, yet I’m quite certain this one dates from the 1990s. Another little mystery in the world of spirits, though I know absolutely nothing about American customs regulations, as you may have gathered. In any case, this is a Courvoisier from the Allied-Domecq era rather than Beam. Right then, let’s taste it… Colour: full gold. Nose: raisins, raisins and more raisins. Plus a tiny touch of liquorice, fairly typical. It’s not at all unpleasant, but it is very basic. Mouth: we find the raisins again, joined by a few notes from much the same register (honey, apricot jam). The structure is perfectly sound. Finish: fairly long, though still essentially focused on raisins. Comments: in any case, it does not seem to have lost any of its consistency over the years, this pleasant cognac was probably much the same thirty or thirty-five years ago.
SGP:631 - 78 points.

Since we’re in VSOP territory…

Grateaud ‘V.S.O.P.’ (40%, OB, Borderies, +/-2026)

We’re in a single cru this time, the Borderies, with a small estate in Chérac, little flannel, but very good quality. Colour: full gold. Nose: all the difference between a very large-brand, very high-volume blend, even if the bottle was over thirty years old, and a proper grower’s cognac, with more rusticity but also rather more complexity, notes of small apples, green plums, damp earth, melon skin, and a few metallic touches, around old copper. In short, a nose… of still. The raisiny side is dramatically reduced here, and we’re certainly not complaining. Mouth: exactly the same feelings and impressions, word for word, even if on the palate it is a little more honeyed, with also a few drops of maple syrup. The earthy side returns afterwards. Finish: fairly long and much more liquorice-led, even caramelised, which is a little surprising, but really not unpleasant. Comments: very, very nice.
SGP:551 - 82 points.

Richard Delisle ‘VSOP’ (40%, OB, Intense & Elégant, +/-2025)

A blend with no cru mentioned, by the house of Cabanne. The XO we tasted in February had been very good, though a little marked by the wood (WF 80). This one should be fresher… Colour: gold. Nose: for once I rather agree with what is written on the label, it does indeed feel ‘intense and elegant’. Lovely notes of fresh grapes, pips, with touches of stalk that do not bother me at all, quite the contrary, then some mentholated and camphory hints, all in… elegance. Mouth: we have the impression of biting into a grape! Light muscat-like touches (there is no muscat, of course) and mead, then ripe peach and even riper melon. Finish: of medium length, perhaps a little extra-softened (sweet wine), but it remains fresh and cheerful. A touch of orange in the aftertaste. Comments: very pleasant and very ‘süffig’, as they say in Alsace.
SGP:551 - 83 points.

We should bear in mind that these VSOPs are still young. It’s much the same in whisky or rum, when you see “old” or “vieux” on a label, it generally indicates that the liquid is in fact quite young. On we go…

Château de Montifaud ‘VSOP’ (40%, OB, Petite Champagne, +/-2025)

Here we are in Jarnac. We had already rather loved the very recent 2006/2026 from Montifaud (WF 87), here we should nevertheless be in slightly more plebeian territory. Colour: full gold. Nose: very much in the Cabanne/Delisle style, fresh grapes, bunches, fine lees, apples, greengages, fresh mint… It is really fresh and, shall we say, authentic. Mouth: same comments. A little more honeyed, with a very slight touch of toffee and yellow fruit jams. As an old uncle keen on mountaineering used to say, it goes down all too easily. Finish: medium length, on honey and a few drops of grappa. Truly, grappa. A slight softness in the aftertaste. Comments: these VSOPs from good houses would not disappoint tasters who are not necessarily seeking ultimate crus.
SGP:651 - 83 points.

Right, let’s move on vertically, but first, we welcome a guest…

Benson 6 yo 2018/2024 (53%, Whisky Picnic Bar, Taiwan brandy, ex-Deanston barrel finish, cask #185, 243 bottles)

Admit it, this is rather amusing! It seems to me that TTL, the makers of the excellent Taiwanese whiskies Nantou/Omar, also produce brandies, though I am not sure whether they are behind this little creature. Deanston, that much we do know, do we not. Colour: full gold. Nose: good heavens, this is rather lovely! The whisky cask is immediately apparent, with a kind of American oak quite unknown in cognac, buttered brioche, ginger biscuits, even a touch of brown ale, while the brandy itself, perhaps a little intimidated, remains very discreet for now. With water: very little change. Mouth (neat): it is much the same impression, one might almost think of a whisky finished in brandy rather than the other way round, though I must admit the whole works rather well. Touches of fermented fruits and ginger. With water: much the same, although we are more clearly at the crossroads of the two worlds, with citrus fruits acting as border control. Finish: likewise, leaning towards the fermentary and herbal, then the wood. Comments: for once it is the whisky that influences the other spirit, rather than the reverse! Very pleased to have tasted this rather improbable (at least on paper) little beast.
SGP:461 - 80 points.

Giboin 2001/2026 (58.4%, OB for Korea Brandy Society, Borderies)

A single cask. Giboin is a house we are very fond of, one sometimes comes across rather exceptional single casks from them in good restaurants in Paris, among others. For example, at La Cagouille! But here, we are in Korea… Colour: full gold. Nose: rather explosive on the nose, imagine a mixture of very old triple sec, yellow Chartreuse, peach liqueur and soft honey, acacia-style. It should also be said that old cognacs at this sort of strength are rather rare. With water: superb varnish and wood glue, cedar, green tea, blond tobacco… Mouth (neat): we are entirely in the territory of a fairly old fruit-driven malt, Rosebank, Balblair, Ben Nevis from the mid-1990s… And I am not joking, what sort of sorcery is this? But let us not get carried away, the DNA is very much Borderies. With water: much the same, water does not shift it an inch, apart perhaps from a slightly more marked herbal side. Finish: long and rather sharp. Lemon, green apple, Rosebank. Yes, really. Then liquorice, overripe apple and tobacco in the aftertaste. Comments: one could hardly make it more malt-like. Naturally, I adore it.
SGP:561 - 90 points.

Giboin 1998/2026 (45.5%, OB for Korea Brandy Society, Borderies, barrique, cask #G423)

It is a magnum (yay!) of Borderies ‘de l’Hermitage’, this one too for our friends in Korea. Magnums are still terribly classy, I am always surprised that the big malt brands produce so few of them. Colour: gold. Nose: more austere, more herbal, more on hay, dried flowers, green teas… That said, if you give it time, it opens slowly like a flower in the morning, successively revealing apricot, rose, honeysuckle and myriads of other little floral and herbal aromas. There is something almost poetic about it, less demonstrative than the magnificent 2001. Mouth: we find again the liquorice power and the very tobacco-led profile, along with citrus fruits, earth, eucalyptus and mint from the 2001. We are not complaining. Finish: long, with oak and pepper nevertheless a little more dominant than in the 2001. Comments: mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, I ought to have tasted this 1998 before the 2001, which does cast ever so slightly too much shadow over it. But we are doing a vertical, are we not…
SGP:461 - 89 points.

Jean-Luc Pasquet ‘Le Cognac de Joël - Lot N°88/82’ (49.2%, OB, Grande Champagne, 348 bottles)

It seems fairly obvious that this cannot be a Grande Champagne from 1988 bottled in 1982, we have kept a little common sense, so we imagine it is a blend of the two vintages. Or something else… The village of origin of this baby is Malaville, in Charente, which Wikipedia tells us has not existed since 2017. So we are stepping into another dimension, so to speak… Colour: full gold. Nose: the most floral of this little session, on peonies, proper geraniums, rose petals and orange blossom water. Then come mandarins and bergamots, as the whole becomes increasingly oriental. Between ourselves, it is splendid in its finesse and purity, but why on earth did they dissolve the village? Mouth: but good heavens, this is delicious, elegant, oriental and floral! We are no longer allowed to call this a ‘feminine’ style, but you see what we mean, while little by little pink peppercorns take control, pushing the whole towards the style of the third infusion of a very old Pu-erh tea. Of course we are joking a little, but you get the idea. In any case, it is magnificent. Finish: fairly long, still of great finesse, now with touches of cedarwood and even incense. Rosewater signs off the whole, in a slightly, let us say it since we fear nothing, decidedly ‘feminine’ manner. Oh, and the trio of pink pepper, nectarine and blood orange that follows… Comments: what a Grande Champagne! Could Malaville be rehabilitated? It seemed to cognac what Cremona was to violins… and bravo to the house of Pasquet.
SGP:651 - 91 points.

One last little one, we’ll come to the older vintages, much older ones, next time…

Chollet ‘Humus Noir - Lot 19.84’ (45.1%, Malternative Belgium, Bons Bois, 99 bottles, 2024)

Black humus could well suggest truffle, of the tuber melanosporum sort. It hardly needs adding, I think, that this would be excellent news. Colour: golden amber. Nose: it is rather striking to note that this humble Bons Bois comes quite close, in spirit and style, to the Grande Champagne we have just tasted. Flowers, fruits, aromatic tension, freshness, herbs, dill, peach and apricot skins, tropical greenhouse… But not the slightest trace of black truffle. We are therefore preparing to send a registered letter of complaint to the most distinguished staff at Malternative Belgium, but first, let us have a quick look at the palate… Mouth: no visible black truffle, but dark honey, liquorice, pipe tobacco, in short other marvellous things of a black hue. Synaesthesia knows no bounds. Finish: superb varnishes, resins and tobaccos, yet always with a form of freshness. Comments: well, we hereby declare that we are immediately cancelling the legal proceedings we were about to initiate ‘on the grounds of absence of black truffle’ in this cognac, not least because we are in the midst of Easter peace. And because it is, after all, a magnificent Bons Bois.
SGP:561 - 90 points.

Au revoir, Joyeuses Pâques, stay tuned.

Check the index of all cognacs we've tasted