5 Cognacs: Prunier 75, Tiffon 45, Mauxion 60 + 50 Years

Five cognacs from three bottlers today: the French Swell de Spirits and the Belgians of The Whisky Jury and In2Spirit. The spirit comes from three houses: Mauxion, Prunier and Tiffon.

 

Cognac Prunier 1975 – Borderies (43,5%, Swell de Spirits ‘Private Garden’ for The Antelope 2023, 50 btl.)

Nose: fruits and varnish up front. Polished copper with orange juice, juicy plums, ripe grapes. Some minty notes appear later. Then also light tobacco leaves and some nutty hints, mainly almonds. A little on the robust side, but really good.

Mouth: still a bit more weighty than I anticipated. Raisin sweetness, mirabelles, caramelized tangerines and hints of dried apricot. Orange peels, aniseed and mint. Mid-palate a fragrant woody note stands out, alongside hints of fruit tea and a whiff of white pepper. Sweet apple peelings too.

Finish: medium length, with citrus notes and ripe grapes, a hint of sappy cedar and chocolate.

Very pleasant and easy-drinking, although the combination of a fairly low ABV and the robustness seems a little odd here.

 

 

Cognac Tiffon Lot 45 – Petite Champagne (49,2%, Swell de Spirits ‘Field Trip’ 2023, 60 btl.)

Nose: again quite rich, with plenty of plums, tangerines and apricots, as well as baked apple. Golden raisins. Then some floral notes appear, as well as herbal honey (wild thyme?) and crushed mint leaves. Becomes increasingly fragrant after some time.

Mouth: a bright fruitiness again, I like the tart side and the juiciness. A lot of tangerines, redcurrants, quinces, bergamots and pink grapefruits. Then some leathery notes, hints of beeswax and more of this herbal honey. Light aniseed and slightly drying hints of walnuts towards the end.

Finish: long, on oak spice, honey and cloves.

When the name Tiffon comes up, we cannot not think of the Berry Bros releases. This is less ancient, but not far behind in terms of quality. Excellent cognac. It’s always a little unclear at SdS whether a bottling is exhausted or not yet for sale (épuisé and pre-order on the same page), better check with them. Score: 91/100

 

 

Cognac Mauxion Vintage 1960 – Fins Bois (46,6%, The Whisky Jury 2023, 96 btl.)

Nose: round and jammy, with plenty of cooked orchard fruits. Plums with hints of dried apricot, as well as some Spanish membrillo. Orange blossom honey, golden raisins and Turkish delight as well.

Mouth: initially minty and rather tart, but it quickly becomes sweeter and a lot more jammy. The fruitiness is rather candied, with more body and sweetness. Oranges and red fruit syrup, as well as Grand-Marnier and oriental pastry. Clove and liquorice appears in the end.

Finish: long, with sweet fruits like stewed pears and dried mango, as well as earthy notes, drops of cough syrup and herbal honey.

Mind that this is a vintage cognac with the necessary certification, so not a vague Lot 60. A very gourmand cognac with lots of cooked fruits. The sweetness is a tad too heavy in my opinion, but I’m sure this will work wonders as an after dinner drink. Score: 90/100

 

 

Next up: two more Mauxion cognacs, bottled by In2Spirit. Since the ABVs and appellations are the same, we assume they’re actually relabeled versions of the official Mauxion Sélections with the metal label.

I’m still not sure what to make of this practice. Perhaps I’m sensitive because we had a similar thing in whisky and it took bottlers many years to be more honest about splitting and sharing casks. Which, in itself, is not a problem of course. But every time I ask (some!) cognac bottlers for more details, they seem to steer towards the same stories: it was a different dame-jeanne from the same series, or a slightly different selection of spirits from the same stock, and the identical ABV is pure coincidence. Which is obviously a claim we can never confirm in any way.

In cognac, be prepared to buy the same stuff multiple times with different labels. I’m not even sure the independent bottlers are always fully aware of it, but it doesn’t make them look good. Mind that a lot of cognac houses are handling this with more transparency, so I don’t want to tar everyone with the same brush.

This 50 ans appears to contain spirits distilled between 1967 and 1973.

 

Cognac Mauxion 50 ans – Fins Bois (54%, In2Spirit 2023, 90 btl.)

Nose: slightly more oily now, with more subdued fruits. Instead cinnamon and gingerbread stand out. Orange peels, stewed orchard fruits and light varnished notes too. Whiffs of heather honey and clover, as well as some tobacco and mint leaves. Some apricot jam too.

Mouth: a good mix of raisin sweetness, old liqueurs, honey and spice. More cinnamon and minty freshness after a while, as well as some nutty notes, earthy hints and herbal tea. Slightly syrupy and robust, missing the finesse of some other bottlings, I’d say. That said, only nice flavours.

Finish: medium length, mixing cinnamon, earthiness and some citrus freshness.

A really nice blend of different well-aged vintages. I have the impression a more robust vintage was paired to a brighter one, which results in a slightly lower precision, so to speak. A nicely balanced combination though. Score: 89/100

 

 

Cognac Mauxion Lot 60 – Petite Champagne (62%, In2Spirit 2023, 120 btl.)

Nose: overall this feels more like a sherried whisky, in a way. There are jammy fruits and orange peels, but also autumn leaves and oriental spice. Herbal honey and whiffs of leather, as well as some furniture polish. Very elegant.

Mouth: thicker than expected, with structured tannins alongside more fruity hints. Oranges, candied fruits, cinnamon and leather. Toffee. Light mentholated hints, as well as black peppercorns and a little plain oak. Some floral notes chiming in.

Finish: quite long, with darker (dried) fruits, raisins and herbal honey. A bit more oaky now.

Almost the same as the Lot 60 we had before, although it would be pretty coincidental to have the same ABV and not be the same spirit. It feels less fruity, slightly more oaky and perhaps even more whisky-like than how I remembered it. Score: 90/100