The Best in Spirits, From Incredible Cognac to Exquisite Whisky
Showcasing the greatest bottles of the year, selected by the editors at Robb Report Monaco & Côte d’Azur.
Published on July 22, 2024
COGNAC: CAMUS
Poets & Birds Collection
A triptych of exceptional cognacs that pay homage to the renowned Borderies cru, the smallest of all the crus. Borderies features a terroir of clay, limestone and flint soils and represents the majority of Camus’s holdings in the Cognac region. The collection comprises three exquisite bottlings, all priced at €38,000 each, making this one of the world’s most expensive Cognac collections.
Housed in sensational crystal decanters designed by Brazilian artist Janaïna Milheiro, with remarkable feathers of different colours emanating from the decanters, Camus has created a limited-edition collection of Cognacs that embark on a sensorial journey through the Borderies, where poetry and nature converge in liquid form. Six bottles were produced of each of the three Cognacs.
Phoenix is arguably the pinnacle of the collection, crafted from a blend that includes eaux-de-vie aged between 10 and 50 years. Bright gold in colour, the nose is delicate and balanced, featuring plums, figs and patisserie aromas, alongside nutmeg and pepper spices. The palate is very fine and complex, with stone fruits, spices, wood and lemon tart flavours. The finish is long and satisfying. €38,000
ARMAGNAC: DARROZE BAS-ARMAGNAC
Les Grands Assemblages 60 Years Old
With its deep artisanal roots, the Armagnac region of France is offering an increasingly appealing alternative for the connoisseur of aged spirits to its neighbour Cognac. The Darroze father-and-son team began operating in the 1970s and today has bottled over 250 Armagnacs, including 50 different vintages. But starting with a 12-year-old expression, the Les Grands Assemblages range is a truly exceptional exploration of region and style. Blended from the house’s enviable cellar, this sprightly 60-year-old offers a balance between power and silky smoothness on the palate, with classic rancio notes following dried fruit and a delicacy and long-lasting finish that belie the 42 percent strength. A
rmagnac may lack some of the fashion credibility of other brandies, but it beguiles and entrances the discerning drinker with its quality and tradition. Appealing to a more knowledgeable consumer who appreciates provenance, the Darroze Grands Assemblages is a superb ambassador for France’s best-kept secret. Around €865 for 70 cl
GIN: BRUICHLADDICH
The Botanist Islay Dry Gin
With so many new gins making the rounds, it might seem strange to turn to a Hebridean distillery better known for its whisky. But not all gins are equal, and not all come in a party igniting magnum size. Bruichladdich’s The Botanist is a modern classic: a refreshing take on gin orthodoxy that will intrigue lovers of conventional, juniper-led gin and convert those new to the genre.
An impressive 31 different botanicals go into the unusual Lomond still, many foraged by hand on the island, thus contributing to the distillery’s B Corp status. Too many ingredients can be a bad thing, but here the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Add the dramatic bottle to the 46 percent ABV strength (deliciously mouthcoating) and the complex, floral taste and you have a gin that can happily be sipped neat or will sing in harmony with any decent tonic. Around €88 for a 150 cl magnum
TEQUILA: EL TEQUILEÑO
Extra Añejo
This exquisite bottle is an example of what’s possible when a distillery hits all the right notes, from agave harvesting to distillation to maturation. El Tequileño Extra Añejo is a blend of three- to four-year-old tequila aged in just three barrels—two of which were previously used to mature Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey and another made from new French oak. This tequila is a rich, dark-amber colour, and the palate veers from sweet vanilla to cooked agave to crisp pepper. The crystal decanter the spirit comes in is certainly worth displaying, but the liquid inside should be savoured. Around €736
COGNAC: LOUIS XIII
The Mathusalem
Named in honour and appreciation of King Louis XIII who created the Cognac appellation as a sub-category of brandy, generously including a series of tax incentives to encourage artisans to live and work in the region, the King was known as the “guardian angel of Cognac”. As the most prestigious Cognac in the Rémy Martin range, Louis XIII is distinct for including distilled wines only from the Grande Champagne cru located to the south of the town of Cognac.
Uniquely, an undisclosed portion of the blend includes eau-de-vie aged for more than 100 years, with the youngest eau-de-vie aged for at least 40-plus orbits of the sun. There are 1,200 eau-du-vie in the blend. The ambition of Baptiste Loiseau—only the 7th Cellar Master—is to “create a blend that has the same potential experience for consumers as the original Louis XIII first produced 300 years ago in 1724”.
Tasted out of a six-litre mathusalem at The Dorchester Hotel in London—a bottle that will set you back around €120,000—Louis XIII is a cognac that explodes in your mid-palate with sweet candied fruits, figs, walnuts, honey, wax and cinnamon. Given the unprecedented complexity, you start noticing orange peel, spices, white pepper and saffron in the aftertaste that can last several minutes, warming your lower stomach as the cognac invades your innards. Although powerful, the amber-coloured Cognac is remarkably light, refined and elegant, making it very moreish. IWSR data shows that, of cognacs sold above around €3,500 per bottle, Louis XIII comprises 99 percent of the entire category, underlining its pre-eminence in the eyes of connoisseurs.
BLENDED WHISKY: DEWAR’S
Double Double 27 Years Old
Blending great whisky is as much an art as it is a science, and few master blenders have shown themselves more adept at this arcane skill than Stephanie Macleod at Dewar’s, who was recently acknowledged by the International Whisky Competition as its Master Blender of the Year for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year. What she has achieved here is quite magical: via an innovative “double double” ageing process, the whisky is aged, blended, then aged again and, for the final touch, finished in casks specially selected for flavour.
The conclusion of this four-stage process uses Palo Cortado sherry casks, which deliver heady, aromatic floral notes with honeyed fruits and subtle spice and the silky-smooth finish characteristic of the Double Double range. And “range” is definitely the word: the Double Double expressions are also found at 21 years of age (around €105) and the majestic 36-year-old blended malt finished in ex-Madeira drums (around €1,765). €295 for 50 cl
SINGLE MALT SCOTCH: BRUICHLADDICH
Thirty
The islay distillery Bruichladdich makes some of the most heavily peated Scotch you can find for its Octomore range. These single-malt smoke bombs push the boundaries of flavour, but the core expression —the Classic Laddie—is actually an unpeated whisky. Such is the case with the new Bruichladdich Thirty, a three-decade-old single malt that comes from stock produced before the facility was shuttered in the 1990s. (It resumed operations in 2001.) This is an exemplary single malt with notes of dark chocolate, black pepper and lemon curd. Despite its age, there’s just a touch of oak that pulls back before becoming overly tannic. Around €1,705
JAPANESE WHISKY: HAKUSHU
18 Year Old Peated Malt Anniversary Edition
High in the Japanese Alps, the Hakushu Distillery is producing some of the world’s best single malts. The House of Suntory, its parent company, marked a century of whisky-making last year. To commemorate the occasion, it launched this new 18-year-old peated whisky, an elegant single malt that combines a gentle smokiness with notes of citrus and spice. If you’re a fan of the rest of the Hakushu lineup—and even if you’re not—this bottle is worth trying. Around €1,590
VERMOUTH: MONTE CARLO VERMOUTH
Monte Carlo Rose Petal Vermouth Bianco
Who knew that the famed Principality produces alcoholic beverages? Made using rare rose petals hand-selected from the renowned rose gardens of Monaco—boasting over 350 varieties of roses blooming year-round—Monte Carlo Vermouth prides itself on creating exquisite, elegant vermouths that are a “world apart” from traditional offerings. Priced to reflect its premium, artisanal nature and use of rare Monégasque rose petals as its key ingredient, this Vermouth is something unique to treasure.
With a subtle golden hue, the floral aromas greet you as soon as you raise the glass to your mouth, along with hints of lemon and grapefruit. In the mouth, the Moscato d’Asti DOCG wine base provides a floral aromatic core of stone fruit flavours alongside citrus notes that bring a racy character to the mid-palate. There’s a herbaceous bitterness from wormwood extract that emerges, bringing depth and complexity. The finish is surprisingly long, full of reminders of the dominant rose petal ingredients.
With the addition of a handsome, heavy impressively designed bottle that reinforces the premium nature of the product, the Monte Carlo Vermouth Bianco is a standout in the world of top-end vermouths. €75
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Lewis Chester DipWSET is a London-based wine collector, member of the Académie du Champagne and Chevaliers du Tastevin, co-founder of Liquid Icons and, along with Sasha Lushnikov, co-founder of the Golden Vines® Awards. He is also Honorary President and Head of Fundraising at the Gérard Basset Foundation, which funds diversity & inclusivity education programmes globally in the wine, spirits & hospitality sectors.
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