Delamain Cognac Toasts 200th Anniversary With Grande Champagne Bottling Aged in Century-Old Vats

(Photo: Delamain Cognac)

Two centuries after its inception in Jarnac, France, Delamain Cognac is taking a trip down memory lane with an exclusive bottling paying homage to various brand touchstones.

On Thursday, Delamain unveiled L’ouiseu Rare, French for “Rare Bird.” Composed of various eaux-de-vies aged for decades in a hundred-year-old seasoned oak vat dubbed a “foudre,” the amber-hued expression was designed as a love letter to the terroir of the Grand Champagne district. Expect aromas of delicate flowers, summer fruits and roasted almonds on the nose alongside flavors of orange zest, Kirsch cherries, cardamom and Muscat grapes.

The elaborately inscribed kestrel design on each bottle honors Jacques Delamain, an ornithologist and scholar who invented the brand’s flagship X.O Pale & Dry expression in 1920. Elsewhere, Jacques’ legacy lives on through his 1928 volume “Why Birds Sing” and his influence on French composer Olivier Messiaen, who regularly incorporated birdsong into his work.

The bottling bears other hallmarks of the brand’s legacy in its finer details.

The expression is brought to market by managing director and cellar master Charles Braastad, the ninth-generation direct descendant of brand founder James Delamain. Similar to the eponymous Richard Hennessy, the original Delamain was an Irishman who settled in the Charente region of France in the mid-1700s. In 1824, he launched the historied Delamain Cognac imprint as we know it today.

“This exceptional blend was created by Dominique Touteau, Delamain’s former Cellar Master, crowning his 40-year career,” Braastad remarked in a news release. “The extraordinary individual qualities of the eau-de-vies, the opportunity to imagine how these individual talents could be brought together in a symphony. It is a privilege to continue this blend in the wake of Dominique Touteau’s legacy and to launch this exceptional cognac in the year of our Bicentenary.”

If you’re interested in picking up L’ouiseu Rare, the expression will be made available at €1,500 ($1,635) later this month at select premises and travel retail stores. To learn more, find the Delamain website here.

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