Learn more about the different Cognac ages
Learn more about the different Cognac growth areas
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Louis Bouron Sublime is one of the rarest known bottlings from Maison Louis Bouron, the family Cognac house based at Château de la Grange in Saint-Jean-d'Angély. Presented as a Pre-Phylloxera Cognac, it belongs to a tiny category of historic eaux-de-vie connected to the period before the devastating phylloxera crisis reached the Cognac region in the late 19th century. It is the oldest expression of the house, older still than the 1906 Heritage Lot 06.
This bottling is best understood as an extremely old reserve Cognac, rather than a cleanly documented single-vintage release. Public records and auction descriptions vary, with references to 1855, 1860 and 1870, but the most cautious reading is that Sublime is a very old assemblage containing pre-phylloxera eaux-de-vie, preserved from the house's historic stocks. Without further documentation it should not be described as a confirmed single-vintage Cognac.
During a visit to the estate, the family confirmed that the eaux-de-vie in this bottling were distilled approximately 140 years ago, placing them firmly in the pre-phylloxera era. The Sublime is also notable for having spent longer in oak barrels before being transferred to demijohn than the Heritage Lot 06.
The liquid is associated with the old Cognac tradition of Folle Blanche, the grape variety that dominated the region before phylloxera and before Ugni Blanc became the standard. After extended ageing in oak, such old Cognacs are typically transferred into glass demijohns to stop further wood influence and preserve their aromatic character.
Bottled at Château de la Grange in the traditional 750 ml format, at 40% Alc/vol, in the house category of Très Très Vieux / Ancestral Cognac. Expect a profile built around deep maturity: rancio, antique wood, dried fruits, walnut, leather, old cellar notes, spice, and concentrated oxidative complexity. It is a collector's Cognac, valued mainly for its rarity, historical context and provenance.
Louis Bouron is a 5-generation family estate at Château de la Grange in Saint-Jean d'Angély. Four estate vineyards totalling 90 hectares across Fins Bois, Borderies and Petite Champagne. The house cognacs carry age statements that far exceed the legal minimum for each category, and are bottled without sugar, caramel colouring or boisé.
Hand-bottled in highly limited quantities from the family demijohn reserve and presented in the Louis Bouron house bottle. 75cl, 40%.
Serve at room temperature in a tulip cognac glass, neat, in very small measures. A cognac of this age and rarity is to be tasted slowly, in good company, with no distractions. Best on its own.
The nose is deep and very old, wow. But fresh? Really 140+ years? Well certainly from a different era. Rancio, dried fig, a little candied citrus peel, something almost savory underneath, like old wood and dried flowers pressed together for decades. The palate surprises: still some body, more than...
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Louis Bouron is a family-run Cognac house based at Château de la Grange in Saint-Jean-d’Angély. Founded in 1832, the estate has remained in the same family for five generations and works from its own vineyards across Borderies, Petite Champagne and Fins Bois. The range is built around long-aged, traditional Cognacs, from a 20-year-old Napoléon to rare century-old and pre-phylloxera bottlings. Natural, historic and deeply authentic, Louis Bouron is a house for drinkers looking beyond the obvious names.
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