Coldorak's whisky blog.
Day 23 of the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar features ABK6 Extra, a single-estate cognac from Domaines Francis Abécassis. The producer farms over 370 hectares across Fins Bois, Petite Champagne, and Grande Champagne crus. We’ll introduce ABK6 before reviewing their ABK6 Extra cognac!
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Day 22 of the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar brings an independent bottling: Les Grandes Jouberteries Lot 65 from Authentic Spirits. A few months ago, this bottler impressed us with an excellent La Prenellerie cognac, but Les Grandes Jouberteries steps onto our radar for the first time today. As always, new names deserve a proper introduction before the review, so let’s get to know Les Grandes Jouberteries first.
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We close the third week of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar with a 50-year-old Grosperrin Très Vieille Héritage cognac. We love tasting another Grosperrin – we always visit them at spirits shows, and even stopped by their Saintes cellars in February this year.
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We continue our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar adventure with a Jean Fillioux Lot 80/85 Cognac, which was hidden in the nineteenth pouch. This cognac, yet to be released, is a multi-vintage Grande Champagne. Let’s introduce Jean Fillioux cognac before reviewing this incoming release.
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Time to open the 18th pouch of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar! Today (well, technically yesterday, since I publish the next morning to avoid spoiling other calendar owners), we discovered a La Récession 42-year-old Cognac. Cognac-Expert created La Récession as a brand to release a handful of sourced cognacs from négociants, bottled exclusively for them. Who from, you ask? Well, you might learn more after the break.
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Day 17 of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar brought an A.E. Dor Vieille Réserve No. 8 Cognac. A.E. Dor has sat on my must‑try list for quite some time, so finding it in this year’s calendar feels like a small victory. One sample won’t ever tell the full story of a cognac house, but every exploration starts with a first glass. As usual, let’s say a few words about A.E. Dor before diving into their Vieille Réserve No. 8 Cognac.
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And… just like that, we’re already two thirds of the way through the 2025 Cognac-Expert Advent Calendar, and today’s dram is a Michel Forgeron Barrique 92 Cognac. Before diving into the glass, let’s have a few words on who stands behind this bottling. Then we’ll take a closer look at their Barrique 92 Grande Champagne cognac.
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We continue the second half of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar with a Louis Royer Extra cognac, allowing us to discover yet another new name (new for us!) in these pages. As usual when we add a new brand or producer here, let’s talk about its history first, before reviewing their cognac.
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The fourteenth pouch of our Cognac-Expert Advent Calendar brings back a cherished name: Famille Cabanne, this time with a Fins Bois Lot 89. Last years calendar still lingers in memory thanks to Richard Delisle Lot 53 – Famille Cabanne in disguise – which delivered an absolutely stunning experience. Their Lot 24 Grande Champagne, a 100-year-old marvel, impressed even more and left us speechless until it came time to put the glass content into words. Now a new Fins Bois from the same family steps up, and expectations run very high for this Lot 89.
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We mark the halfway point of the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar with a pour from one of Charente’s most enduring dynasties: the Frapin XO VIP Cognac. Hailing from a family whose winegrowing roots stretch back centuries, this Grande Champagne expression carries the weight of serious history. Now, let’s see if the liquid in the glass lives up to the VIP title.
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