Brillet Tres Vieille Reserve XO: Bottle review

The house of Brillet counts 65 hecatres (150 acres) of vineyards. The estate lies in the heart of the Grande Champagne region, some parts are in the Petite Champagne area. The house exports 70% and 30% get sold in France.

First of all: this Cognac is a Single Grande Champagne, 100% Grande Champagne. This Cognac is said to be the reference for XO Cognacs found in the best restaurants and wine stores.

Brillet Tres Vieille Reserve XO

This is a Cognac that claims being in the middle segment of Cognac.

Here are the tasting notes of the Cognac Brillet Très Vieille Reserve:

On the eye: Intense ambour, golden colour
On the nose: Long and delicate on the nose, hints of peach – but a bit light. The attacks are really mild
The taste: Flowery and redolnet of vine shoots, a remarkable intensity of dried fruit, sweet, spices – without being too sharp. Still, there is some acidity which creates a certain freshness.
The finish: Relative long. A very pleasant acquaintance.
Aging : 20 years in Limousin oak barrels: first newer barrels and then in old ones to create this Grand Cru de Cognac.
Producer: Maison Brillet
Origin: Grande Champagne, France

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Some more background about the Maison Brillet:
In 1656, Guy Brillet created the first pot still in a vineyard, in the Grande Champagne. That was the time when the first double distillation occured. 6 generations later, 1850, Vivien Brillet increased the size of the vineyards, in 1920 Raymond and later his son Jean Brillet started commercialising their Cognac, also produced Pineau de Charente.

Estate of Maison Brillet

Estate of Maison Brillet

Jean-Louis Brillet (10th generation) extends the product range in 1985, introducing BELLE DE BRILLET. Jean-Louis also increased exports and added a wine-line to the range called Maine des Aireaux.

Maison Brillet is one of the last remaining houses that produce hand-crafted, single vineyard and unblended Cognacs.

The Maison Brillet distillery is a Bouilleur de Cru. This an expression reserved exclusively for producers which distill from their own vineyards. December to March is traditionally the time of distillation and running the Charentais pot stills (double distillation). Called “Premier Grand Crus” of Cognac, the Brillet Cognacs are produced, and aged in oak barrels and bottled separately “unblended”, this is something special. This is why they are called “Single Grande Champagne” and are from 10 to 100 years old.

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2 Responses

#1 Cognac Review on May 6, 2010, says:

Hi there! Congratulations with this great website about Cognac! Very interesting to read all the articles! I am the writer of a dutch cognac (www.cognacreview.nl) website as well.

I tasted this Brillet Cognac last week, and found it to soft on the nose and taste. How do you think about that opinion?

#2 will on May 2, 2011, says:

i was recently passed down a mini bottle of J.calvet&cie tres vielle reserve empire cognac. As i am a keen cognac drinker i was wondering the age and value of the bottle before i took the pleasure of opening the bottle. I was hoping someone could please help me with this?

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