We have the Internet, global travel is accessible to all, medical advances mean longer and healthier lives, and mega-corporations ply us with everything our hearts desire. Still, many of us crave tradition and authenticity–the qualities of true artisan craft. And none more so than the time honored craft of Cognac making. A wonderful example is the house of JLP Cognac–aka Jean Luc Pasquet.

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

The entrance to the estate of Jean Luc Pasquet Cognac

If you’re not yet familiar with the artisan brand of Jean Luc Pasquet Cognac, then we’re delighted to introduce you. 

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

Heading the family is the house’s namesake; Jean Luc Pasquet. He and his wife, Marie Françoise, have tended their seven hectares of Grande Champagne vines for decades, Indeed, it was back in the year 1977 when they sold their first bottle under the name of Jean Luc Pasquet Cognac­–a proud moment, but one that was naturally tinged with a little apprehension.

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

Sunset over the Grande Champagne Pasquet vineyards

It was 1981 when little Jean Pasquet came into the world. And being the son of a husband and wife team who’ve dedicated their lives to Cognac, it should come as no surprise that he too has chosen to follow the same path.

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

In 1994, when Jean was aged just 13, his parents turned their whole operation over to organic practice–a real rarity at that time. In 1998 they were granted the ‘Agriculture Biologique’ French organic label, and five years later their first all-organic Cognac was produced.

During these formative years Jean was naturally fascinated by his mother and father’s work. And of course, Jean Luc was delighted to teach his son their traditional family secrets. As the years rolled on, this father-son bond went from strength to strength, and so too did the knowledge that Jean absorbed from his father.

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

One of the things we love about the Cognacs of Jean Luc Pasquet is how the role of tradition and family shines through in so many ways. One of these is in the reasoning and naming behind many of their Cognacs.

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

2001, the first year of the new millennium, when Jean Luc was 56 and Jean was turning 20, the head of the household recalls a nostalgic moment that was to herald the idea behind a brand new Cognac.

He was, as many of us do after passing the big ‘five–oh’, perusing through his memories of the past decades. He admits that it was the turn of the century that prompted such nostalgia; childhood memories–both happy and sad–hopes, dreams, all culminating in the moment the clock tipped over midnight into the start of the new millennium.

But it was in the peaceful calm of his aging cellar that he realized he was incredible privileged to own some true pieces of history. And these were in the form of the aromatic barrels of eaux-de-vie, quietly minding their own business whilst aging in barrels. They were even labeled–1991, 1992, 1993… Right up to the year 2000.

It was at that moment that Jean Luc became fully aware of the gift that Mother Nature had given him: a unique timeline of the years leading up to the start of the 21st century.

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

It was right at this time that the idea of Nostalgie was born. Jean Luc and his son took the very best eaux-de-vie from each year in the final decade of the 20th century to create a blend to be aged like no other. After patiently waiting the years it took for the Cognacs to come to fruition, father and son went to great lengths to select a single barrel to be bottled in a limited edition of only 500.

This cask strength Cognac has been launched to celebrate the 40th birthday of the house­–a true collaboration between old and young, and one that, in true Cognac tradition, has been decades in the making.

Jean-Luc Pasquet Cognac: Where Family Matters

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Jacki has been with Cognac Expert from virtually the beginning. She's the senior editor of the blog, and has spent much of her life living in rural France. Today she's based back in the UK, where she splits her working life between writing for Cognac Expert and working as a Paramedic at a large regional hospital.

1 Comment

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    Marshall Rothman

    I look forward to the Jean Luc Pasquet cognac! Thank you for your great blogs!!!

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