Jarnac

The Classicist: Delamain Cognac

As we head into autumn our thoughts naturally turn to keeping warm by the fire with a glass of something really good. So we were pleased to hear that the House of Delamain, one of France's oldest and last family-owned cognac producers, is coming out with something special for the holidays. Delamain makes the special edition Le Voyage cognac in a folding leather case that my colleague Deidre Woollard wrote about a while back.

At $7,000, the Le Voyage is almost too precious to drink. However, the company is coming out with a new Trio Pack of three 200 ml bottles of Grande Champagne cognacs in time for the holidays, which at $129 is a more accessible entry point to this fine house whose history dates back all the way to 1759.

The three Trio Pack offerings are their Pale & Dry XO (right), Vesper, and Tres Venerable. Pale & Dry is exactly what it sounds like, with a bright amber color; Vesper is the next oldest with a richer hue; and Tres Venerable is a blend of extremely old Grande Champagne cognacs that have "benefited from maximum barrel aging and express all the nobility of the truly great eaux-de-vie."

Gallery: Delamain Cognac