The Story Behind The World's Most Exclusive Cognac

Each decanter of Louis XIII cognac is the life achievement of generations of cellar masters. We visited the world’s most patient ones to ask how their age-old outlook and tradition connect to generation ‘right now’

- Thomas Barrie

I'M STANDING IN A LONG, light room lined with tall copper stills. This is the hightech vinification facility at Juillac-Le-Coq, Cognac, where Rémy Martin produces its most exclusive cognac, Louis XIII, and it feels more like a research lab than a distillery. Vats each holding 71 400 litres of strong spirit tower over us. The smell of alcohol mixes with the cool air. In front of me are two clear, unassuming liquids in small crystal glasses.

Gingerly, I sample a drop of each. The first tastes like soft, cloudy lemon juice – this is an undistilled wine, ready to be made into eau de vie, the base ingredient of cognac. It’s about 10% ABV. Add a drop of water and it tastes a little more like toffee, pear or butter. The second is unaged eau-de-vie. It’s 72%. Allegedly, this is the only thing Rémy Martin’s oldest living cellar master, André Giraud, will drink. Giraud retired in 1990, but at 95 he’s still going strong. ‘It’s like tasting a perfume,’ says our guide.