Cognac: A spirit’s spirit to survive and thrive
Augier, the first modern cognac house, was organized in 1643. Today the brand is owned by French spirits giant Pernod Ricard. It recently relaunched the brand with a line of cognacs said to reflect the early style of the product.
Over the two centuries following 1643, many of the leading cognac houses, including the big four that today dominate the market, emerged: Martell (1715), Rémy Martin (1724), Hennessy (1765) and Courvoisier (1809). Today, there are 274 cognac houses, drawing from 4,500 grower-distillers, producing around 1,000 brands of cognac, including custom retailer-specific ones.
The 19th century proved to be a boom time for cognac, even if the precise character of the spirit would not be defined until the next century.
In 1775, France exported 47,700 hectolitres of cognac, (1.240 million gallons). By 1860, exports had tripled to 149,000 hectolitres (3.875 million gallons).