Here are the results of the International Spirits Challenge for Cognac, the Gold, Silver and Bronze – also some Commended Winners! Louis Royer and ABK6 get nice surprises…

It’s the challenge’s 15th year, every year great tasting and promoting quality products and of course also Cognac. The eaux-de-vie are judged by the leading international spirits experts.
This could also be interesting to you: 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, see article here.
Related products
Gold Medal winner
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER- Grand Champagne Cognac Destillerie Magnolies
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER- Distillerie Des Saules
ABK6 Cognac Cognac Leyrat
ABK6 Cognac ABK6 Cognac VS Pure Single
SNC P Frapin Cognac Grande Champagne Multimillesime N.3
ABK6 Cognac ABK6 Cognac Cru VSOP
Silver Medal winner
Chateau de Cognac Cognac Otard VSOP
Francois Voyer XO Gold Francois Voyer
BACHE-GABRIELSEN BACHE-GABRIELSEN HORS D’AGE COGNAC
Cognac de Luze
Grand Empereur Varietal French Brandy
CAMUS COGNAC SERAPHIN VS
ABK6 Cognac ABK6 Cognac Family Reserve XO
Bronze Medal Winner
First Drinks Remy Martin Coeur de Cognac
Francois Voyer Extra Francois Voyer
BACHE-GABRIELSEN DUPUY XO TENTATION COGNAC
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER- Cognac Extra Grande Champagne
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER- Petit Champagne Cognac Distillerie D’Ecole
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER- VSOP Preference
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER-Bob Bois Cognac Distillerie
Commended Winner
CAMUS COGNAC CAMUS XO BORDERIES
First Drinks Remy Martin VSOP
Bisquit Dubouche & Cie Bisquit VS Classique
Bisquit Dubouche & Cie Bisquit VSOP Fine Champagne
Bisquit Dubouche & Cie Bisquit XO Fine Champagne
CAMUS COGNAC CALVADOS BERNEROY VSOP
CAMUS COGNAC CAMUS XO ELEGANCE
CAMUS COGNAC SERAPHIN XO
Chateau de Cognac Cognac Otard VS
Chateau de Cognac Cognac Otard XO
Cognac de Luze Grand Empereur Regional French Brandy
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER- VSOP Cognac
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER-VS Cognac
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER- Fins Bois Cognac Destillerie D’aumagne
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER -Fine Champagne cognac Force 53
LOUIS ROYER SAINSBURY -XO Cognac- Taste the difference Cru Grande
Cognac de Luze Cognac De Luze VSOP Fine Champagne
First Drinks Remy Martin XO Excellence
CAMUS COGNAC CAMUS VS ELEGANCE
CAMUS COGNAC CAMUS VSOP ELEGANCE
Cognac de Luze Cognac De Luze Alfred Fine Champagne
LOUIS ROYER LOUIS ROYER
Cognac Ferrand Pierre Ferrand Ambre
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If you are interested in other competitions, read the article about the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, here.
Source, Pics: www.internationalspiritschallenge.com
2 Comments
How is it possible to respect this “competition” with only the big industrial cognacbrands attending, they are in the jury and all of the contenders get a prize?
However, my top favourite stories from the cognac industry are these:
1. Hennesy XO telling us the blend consists of 64 unique eaux-de-vies… Give us the best ones, not #62, 63 and 64 in terms of quality!
2. You have the small family owned cognac houses. Then there is Courvoisier & co. investing £15 Million in a marketing campaign. The cognac is so bad many recommend drinking it chilled and with tonic, etc.
Who is paying for the campaign? Exactly! YOU are! In addition to return on invested capital, nice fancy bottles. Is the campaign giving you a better product?
3. Imagine.
You are in a bar and decide to impress somebody by drinking a Remy Martin Louis XIII. (Are you an owner of this cognac? Compare it with the low-end product of Delamain; the XO. One fifth of the price. Delamain call it XO, but the youngest part is more than 20 years old):
-if you are the last customer on this bottle, you can be sure the bartender is keeping the fantastic designbottle for himself. You have paid for a cognac where a third of the price is the packaging U don’t get access to.
-on such an expensive cognac the bottle may have been standing half empty for months. Oxidation = dead cognac (never empty a bottle totally, always save a 4cl rest to compare with a new bottle or another type of cognac!)
-comparing with small cognac houses you don’t find at tax-free, imagine how much money the industrial
cognac companies spend on marketing. It costs quite a bit for Martell to convince you and the rest of the world what kind of life you are “guaranteed” drinking Martell; A big yacht drinking, cognac with a nice lady with the picture of the Rolls in the background!
Imagine what margin is left for putting quality cognacs into those bottles…
I found an unopened bottle of Bisquit VSOP Neopolean that I believe was bottled somewhere around 1955. The seal is good and there are no particulates in the bottle.. Is this worth anything or should I just invite a few friends over and open it? Please email me if you know anything about this bottle’s worth.