Learn more about the different Cognac growth areas
Guy Tanguidé et Fils is a 25-hectare family estate at Chez Réveillé, in Champagnac, on the southern edge of the Petite Champagne cru where the boundary follows the Seugne. The family grows Ugni Blanc on clay-limestone soils over chalk and has been bottling under its own name since the early 1980s. Jonas distils in the traditional Charentais manner, on the lees, charging them twice. Part of the crop goes to Rémy Martin and to Marnier-Lapostolle for Grand Marnier; the best parcels stay at home.
This is a specialty bottling and it is not a sipping cognac. At 60% it is made for the brûlot charentais, the local habit of setting light to cognac over a coffee, where a standard 40% simply will not carry a flame. The estate selects it for that purpose, and for culinary work and for macerating fruit, which is why it sits apart from the four aged qualities in the range. If you came looking for something to drink neat, start instead with the estate's younger sipping and mixing cognacs.
Because it comes from the same Petite Champagne parcels and the same lees distillation as the rest of the house, it brings real cognac aroma to the job rather than the neutral high-strength spirit often used instead. That matters most in the brûlot itself, where the flame burns off alcohol and leaves the aromatics behind in the cup. Our piece on cognac and coffee goes into the tradition and how to do it properly.
One for cooks, for anyone curious about Charentais custom, and for anyone who preserves fruit in spirit.
The Sélection, the Vieille Réserve, the XO 50 cl and the brûlot Cognac are bottled in clear glass, which lets you see the colour of the eau-de-vie. The estate's Napoléon and VSOP keep the old Charentais bottle in dark green glass. It is presented as a working bottle rather than a display piece.
For a brûlot, warm a spoonful over a strong black coffee, light it, let it burn down and stir it in. In the kitchen use it to flame or to deglaze, and to macerate cherries, prunes or grapes. Do not drink it neat at full strength.
