Story
Delamain & Co. holds the most distinguished range of brandy in Cognac. The portfolio begins with the Pale and Dry XO, matured for more than three times the required aging period for the category, and ends with the Le Voyage, an irreplaceable blend of extremely old stocks; this is history in a bottle. Delamain’s reserves of eau-de-vie are sourced entirely from Grande Champagne, the highest quality, most complex and longest lived of the crus, and are matured in their riverbank cellars which ensure the perfect and unique aging that has made the Cognacs of Delamain coveted by collectors and critics alike.
The Delamain name can be traced back to Cognac in 1625 when Nicolas Delamain, a Huguenot from Saintonge, relocated to England to evade religious persecution. He became the protégé of the Duke of Buckingham and was knighted by Charles I in 1639. He received the Delamain coat of arms, an eagle rising atop a gold shield depicting three bloody crosses, which is still represented on every bottle of his family’s Cognac.
Today, Delamain boasts a range of six different Cognacs, all of which are created to deliver the finest, purest, most authentic expression of the Grande Champagne area of Cognac. Like most Cognac négociants, Delamain does not own vineyards or distill wine. Delamain purchases only the best barrels of eau-de-vie which fit with the Delamain style from independent growers who distill the yield of their own Grande Champagne vineyards. Though some supplier relationships are a century old, Delamain doesn’t keep any contracts, so that every barrel can be purchased only after it has been evaluated and unanimously agreed on. Delamain buys only brandies with 15 years of age or more, matured in older, large Limousin casks. Of the roughly 400 samples received each year, about 10% meet Delamain’s uncompromising standards for purchase.
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