Coldorak's whisky blog.
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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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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The eleventh pouch revealed a J. Dupont XO Art Déco Cognac, as we’re nearing the end of the first half of our Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar already. Once again, we try a Cognac from a long-standing Cognac house, and we add a new name to this humble blog. Let’s talk about their history, before reviewing the J. Dupont XO Art Déco cognac.
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We conclude our debut week of the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar with a Seguinot Réserve de la Famille cognac. Though Seguinot represents a fresh addition to the More Drams portfolio, the house commands deep respect within Cognac circles – a distinction you’ll discover in our background section below. The calendar has delivered consistently very good expressions throughout this opening week, so let’s see if day 7’s pouch carries that momentum forward with one of Seguinot’s most treasured releases, the Réserve de la Famille.
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Day 5 of the Cognac-Expert advent calendar delivers a familiar name with a prestigious twist: a Vallein Tercinier Lot 96 Cognac. While we explored one of their Lot 96 single casks a few months back – a solid Fins Bois expression – this pouch elevates the game with Grande Champagne terroir, the crown jewel of cognac crus.
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We continue the journey to Christmas with the fourth pouch of our Cognac-Expert Advent Calendar, where we discovered the Landreau XXO Grande Champagne Cognac. A few months ago, we enjoyed the Landreau L’Âge D’Or, alongside the Maze Churchill Origine N°1 found in yesterday’s pouch (hence the absence of review yesterday). This time, the Landreau XXO offers a younger expression, giving us a chance to see if the same high quality carries through lower in their range.
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We’re back to Cognac advent calendars for our second year, with this time again, the Cognac-Expert advent calendar. Before we start with the first cognac of this 2025 Cognac-Expert Advent Calendar, a Ragnaud Sabourin XXO Cognac, let me add a disclaimer, for transparency purposes. If you read my reviews last year, you saw that most of the cognacs were delicious or even utterly splendid, with just a few of them being of a lower level. But, once again, this was my own and humble opinion, based on my analysis and my preferences, so it’s not the Holy Word. If last year I had bought myself the advent calendar, I was lucky that this year it was sent to me by Cognac-Expert directly, with no strings attached. We were all clear that I would still write what I want and what I think, as I’ve always done, and as I plan to always do. Thanks again to Taylor at Cognac-Expert, who handled all that. It’s very appreciated! End of disclaimer, let’s crack on with the holy liquid that was in yesterday’s pouch!
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We reviewed three cognacs from the sample pack that Cognac-Expert sold a few weeks ago. This sample pack included six cognacs, and with today’s trio, we will have reviewed them all. In addition to today’s three cognacs, the pack contained Guynot Elégance, Bégaud Instant Rare, and Egreteau 80–81 B23. The last three cognacs we’re reviewing today are from Maze Churchill, Landreau, and La Prenellerie, with Authentic Spirits bottling the latter.
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Today, we’re exploring three Grande Champagne cognacs: Laurichesse, Marancheville, and Ragnaud Sabourin. I must confess, my appreciation for cognac has been steadily growing. For a long time, I was so captivated by whisky that other spirits seemed dull in comparison, lacking the depth and complexity of flavours. However, over the past six to twelve months, I’ve delved deeper into cognac, learning to distinguish between the different crus and even recognizing them blind sometimes. I realise now that I was mistaken to overlook cognac before; it’s a remarkable spirit with a rich history that whisky can’t always match. Now, let’s see how these three cognacs measure up. I haven’t researched their ages beforehand, so we’ll taste them in order of increasing ABV.
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