Distillerie des Moisans 1991 Bons Bois Cognac

This 1991 possesses an exotic nose that evokes coconut, plummy fruit, toffee, and spice. The texture on the palate is round with prune, dried apricot, and plenty of spice The palate benefits from its lively 43% ABV, which also helps push the flavors through its long finish. Charles Neal

Olivier Petit is the General Director of the Distillerie des Moisans, a large distillery in the Fins Bois that converts wines into eaux de vie that will later become cognac for many neighboring producers. In 2021 Charles Neal was on the hunt for interesting spirits and visited the distillery. The distillery was raised to its present success by Roland Bru who bought it in 1955. His initial fortune was in logging, but he made the smooth transition to expanding his new venture. He worked through the decades to expand the breadth of his business until he passed away in 1997. Unique for the industry, the distillery was eventually taken over by his two daughters. One of them, Véronique Bru-Legaret, eventually assumed control with the aid of her son Roland. Over the three generations the family has acquired 60 hectares of vines themselves, both from the Fins Bois and in the Petite Champagne.

In addition to their own vineyards the distillery buys wines from over 100 growers, and that this was from a tiny producer with a very humid cellar in the western part of the Bons Bois near the Gironde estuary, a dozen or so miles as the bird flies from the famous vineyards of St-Estephe in Bordeaux. Charles happily reported to us that here was a Cognac that was truly eye-opening, Enjoy! Michael Kennel, D&M