The oldest 258 year old Cognac bottle, which was distilled in 1762, now presented in Vietnam!!!
- Story behind Cognac 1762 bottle.
The story of the Donsir family ownership began when the family adopted a son by the name of Alphonse. Alphonse went to the vineyards of Cognac in 1870 to find work, not long before the phylloxera outbreak. Phylloxera destroyed between 75 percent and 90 percent of the vineyards of France, and a decade later Alphonse returned home with a cart laden with bottles – as vineyards had been financially ruined, they would often pay wages with the only form of currency available to them, which was the bottles of cognac they produced. When WW1 commenced in 1914, Alphonse was conscripted to the French army, perishing that same year. Alphonse’s legacy was preserved in the form of his bottles of Gautier 1762, having been stored in the family cellars for a century .Amongst these bottles representing Alphonse’s “savings” were three bottles of highly-regarded Gautier 1762. Three ancient cognac bottles that Alphonse brought back that year in different sizes, respectively Grand Frère (‘big brother’), Petit Frere (‘little brother’) and Petit Soeur (‘little sister’).
The Petit Soeur (‘little sister’) is now housed in the Gautier Museum, southwestern France, proudly displaying its near priceless royal warrant signed by King Louis XV himself in 1755.
Photo: Maison Gautier Cognac Museum.
In 2014, the second smaller bottle, ‘Petit Frere’ of 1762 Gautier Cognac was auctioned by Bonhams in New York. The winning bidder turned out to be Wealth Solutions, a Polish company that specializes in rare spirits and collectables. Once Wealth Solutions had secured the bottle it submitted the evidence to Guinness World Records and had the “world’s oldest cognac sold at auction” claim validated.
Photo: ‘Petit Frere’ bottle was submitted to Guinness World Records and had the “world’s oldest cognac sold at auction in 2014”.
And it was on 04 November 2015 at The Bristol Hotel in Warsaw (Poland) that the bottle opening ceremony took place. It was done to celebrate the collaboration between Wealth Solutions and the Swiss watch maker, Armin Strom. Wealth Solutions successfully offers ‘alternative investments’ in various collectibles, wine, whisky and, it now appears, cognac.
Photo: ‘Petit Frere’ bottle was opened in 2015
So what makes a bottle of cognac 1762 ‘Grand Frère’ so expensive?
Indeed, as the name suggests for the 1762 Cognac bottle ‘Grand Frère’, this is the biggest of the three bottles, auctioned through an auction at Sotheby’s. If the Petit Frere, ‘little brother’ bottle was recognized by Guiness as the oldest bottle in the world in 2014, when it was 252 years old, then this 1762 Cognac bottle is 258 years old, stored for 140 years in the cellar of Donsir family, but the quality is guaranteed to have a good taste. One thing is for sure, the Cognac 1762 ‘Grand Frère’ is the last remaining bottle in a set of three cognac bottles that are recognized as the oldest bottle in the world. Because, the other two bottle was opened in 2015 and strictly protected in the French cognac Maison Gautier museum, but so far no one has seen it.
Even more surprising, when the bottle Cognac 1762 ‘Grand Frère’ is present in Vietnam. This can be seen as a great effort of the Asian collector to bring this oldest Cognac bottle to his country.
Photo: 1762 ‘Grand Frère’ bottle in Vietnam
- Exceddingly rare & unique bottle.
Referring to a bottle of Cognac 1762, it has spent a lot of paper and ink of the press and media, with more than 1000 articles from 204 countries around the world posting information about it. This ” exceedingly rare” Cognac bottle that has been stored since the late 19th century, before the French revolution has just been sold through an online auction of Sotheby’s for £118,580 ($144,525). According to the auction houses, Gautier Cognac 1762 is “the oldest Cognac vintage ever sold at auction”.
As for the bottle itself, Sotheby’s claims that the liquid should still ‘taste good’ after storage for 140 years in the cellar of the Donsir family, and was believed to have been originally bottled in the 1840s.
- The Cognac is revered by collectors.
“The Gautier 1762 is renowned and revered across the world as a cognac that transcends the world of spirits collecting,” said Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s spirits specialist, in the press release. “This bottle represents not only an example of pre-phylloxera viticulture, but also of early cask maturation from the dawn of Gautier’s production and even precedes the French Revolution.”
While it may be impossible for us mere mortals to ever enjoy the 1762 Cognac, Maison Gautier is still producing and releasing bottles, owned and directed by the same founding family 10 generations later. Its X.O Pinar del Rio even won ‘Best Superior Quality Cognac’ at the 2020 World Cognac Awards. It may be the next best thing to try in order to mark this historic occasion.
