Gilles Brisson Napoleon Cognac 750ml

The Gilles Brisson estate has been family owned and run for four generations from Châteaubernard, in the heart of the Grande Champagne appellation just outside the town of Cognac. Cyril Brisson has overseen the estate since 1989, having learned distillation and aging from his father, while his own son Alexis is now training alongside him to carry the tradition forward. The family farms sixty-five hectares in total, twenty-five of which are planted to Ugni Blanc for cognac, a substantial holding for an independent Grande Champagne producer.

This Napoléon designation requires the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend to have aged at least six years in cask, though Brisson holds this cuvée back considerably longer, to twelve years, entirely within the Grande Champagne premier cru. The Brissons favor extended aging well past the legal minimum, a patience the family credits with drawing out the fuller aromatic intensity and silky texture characteristic of their terroir.

Napoléon pours a golden amber and opens with a delicate, mellow nose of caramel and spice. The palate is surprisingly light for its age, offering caramel, oak, and vanilla alongside tea, sarsaparilla, and clove, with butterscotch notes emerging as it opens in the glass. Enjoy neat or on the rocks as an after-dinner sipper.