Delamain 'Pléiade' Collection 1988 & 1991 Cognac
We are delighted to have secured limited allocations of Delamain's 'Pléiades' collection cognacs, from the 1988 and 1991 vintages. Individually numbered, hand-labelled, and presented in a luxury French-made gift box, these are among the finest parcels of spirits tasted by Dominique Touteau, Delamain's retiring cellar master of the last 40 years.
Delamain is famous for selecting small lots of superb quality spirits distilled by artisan distillers within the Grande Champagne area and giving them extended ageing in their cellars, before skillful blending. The decision to bottle some of the rarest lots without blending for the Pléiades Collection is based on their distinctive character and outstanding quality.
From a single cask, just 355 bottles of the 1991 exist. Aged for thirty years in its 350L Troncais Forest oak cask, this was bottled in February 2021 at 46% abv.
The 1988 comes from a parcel of vines in the village of Bouteville, famous for its medieval castle. Just 380 bottles were bottled, from a single cask, in November 2020, at 42.5% abv.
The purity and intensity of aroma and flavour in Delamain's top cognacs has to be tasted to be appreciated and, in our experience, they sit almost in a category of their own, so we recommend adding them to your collection. You can read more about the unique house of Delamain below.
*named after the constellation, also known in English as the Seven Sisters
Stock is limited, please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to order.
Offered duty paid ex-VAT, immediately available.
Producer Profile
Delamain
We last visited here almost twenty years ago. Since those days, Bollinger Champagne have become part owners, but we suspect little has changed. Delamain's offices and cellar are in the town of Jarnac, a stone's throw from the headquarters of Courvoisier, overlooking the Charente River. In contrast to the Wonker-esque Courvoisier factory, Delamain's street door is marked out by a small brass plaque that would not look out of place on a country solicitor's office.
One of the oldest and continuously family-run houses in Cognac, Delamain was established in 1824, but its roots date to shortly after the arrival of Irishman James Delamain in 1759. The House is situated in the heart of Grande Champagne, considered Cognac’s finest terroir, and exclusively produces XO and above Cognacs. Delamain is universally recognised as the leading specialist in blending fine Cognacs, using only eau-de-vie from Grande Champagne, aged in seasoned oak casks for a minimum of two decades, and released in very limited quantities.
Steps lead down to the tiny cellars, where casks of spirit of varying ages sit, slowly gaining complexity and intensity. In another room sits an extraordinary collection of wicker-wrapped glass demi-johns. Just this month, Charles Brastaad-Delamin has taken over as cellar master from Dominique Touteau, who presided here for over forty years, deciding when the spirit reaches optimal intensity from barrel maturation, and when it is ready to be transferred into these inert glass vessels, becoming practically ageless in the process.
Unlike commercial cognacs, no caramel has ever been used to artificially darken the spirit (hence the name of Delamain's signature XO 'Pale & Dry') and we find the cognacs from this house to have a unique purity and complexity of flavour.
