During his military service, Claude depended upon the assistance of his father to farm the vines he had in his care. Traditionally, a rental contract here in France is for 3, 9, or 18 years. Claude’s contract was up after 9, so in 1971, Claude found himself looking for work. A distillery in Touzac suggested that he could be their broker in eaux-de-vie, which he accepted as well.
Being a broker, courtier in French, means knowing vintners and their cellars well, and, at the same time, having close connections to the negociants as well. Claude began with a single distillery but found he had a knack for negotiating sales of cognac. Quickly, he gained more clients and vintners at the same time.
In this bottle, is a cognac crafted by Claude on the vines he was renting from his neighbors, distilled in the small pot-still installed by his grandfather. This is the first cognac we purchased immediately after sampling it.
It was a small cask of 195 liters, which made a total of 377 bottles. We found the cognac to be at its best ABV at cask strength of 47.4%.