Cognac Grande Champagne, Bisquit Dubouche, Cognac, 1848

Seller description

Bisquit was founded in Jarnac in 1819 by Alexandre Bisquit, the heir to a family who had produced cognac since the 17th century. The house was a great success and Alexandre Bisquit, who became the mayor of Jarnac in 1848, travelled to introduce his cognacs abroad, in Europe, China and Russia. The group was bought in 1966 by Paul Ricard, the future founder of the Pernod Ricard group. Since 2009, Bisquit has been owned by the Distell group, who moved the business to Château Pellisson in Cognac, which was renovated by architect Gilles Rosier in 2012. About the cuvée A Grande Fine Champagne Cognac, from the heart of the appellation, distilled in 1858, before the Phylloxera crisis that ravaged the vineyards of France and Europe from the mid-1860s until the late 19th century. This cognac was therefore produced from Folle Blanche, a grape variety now rarely found due to Phylloxera, which led to Ugni Blanc being more widely adopted. It is a true museum piece distilled under the Second Empire. We are unsure of the bottling date, but the absence of volume and bottling strength on the label suggest it is pre-1950s. Two griffins are depicted on the label, half-eagle, half-lion creatures and the symbols of the Bisquit house, one of the most prestigious houses of the era.