Old Master Spirits 1945 Cognac Review!

1945! Roughly 79 years ago. World War II had recently ended, atomic bombs had been used for the first time, my father was turning one, and in one corner of the Cognac region in south-western France, a field of Ugni Blanc grapes was being harvested and fermented in order to be distilled in to cognac. And now, 79-years later, we're about to taste the result! 

While I've been lucky enough to try a couple of very old whiskies, I can count the 50+ year old examples on one hand - using four fingers, to be exact. This cognac sets a new record for the oldest spirit that I've ever tasted, beating the previous titleholder by three years, and it's also the earliest-distilled spirit that I've ever tasted, beating the previous titleholder by one year. I've never tried a brandy of this sort of age, with the previous winner being the 63-year old from the same independent bottler as this V45 bottling; Melbourne's Old Master Spirits. As far as I can tell this is also the oldest single cask spirit ever bottled exclusively for Australia, which is one hell of an achievement for a pair of whisky & spirits geeks behind a brand that has only existed for four years. But they've done it, and it's being released to celebrate their fourth birthday! This 1945 vintage cognac comes from Cognac Tiffon, a family-owned cognac house that was founded in 1875. Tiffon is located on the banks of the Charente river in the town of Jarnac, around 15km east of the town of Cognac in south-western France. This cognac house currently has vineyards in both the Grand Champagne and Fins Bois appellations of the Cognac region, the six growth areas that are known as crus, but this 1945 vintage cognac originated in the Petite Champagne cru, which covers roughly twice the geographic area of its more prestigious neighbour the Grande Champagne cru. One quick technical note here, the vintage in this case is more like a wine vintage, referring to the year that the grapes were harvested, rather than a whisky vintage which typically refers to the year of distillation. 

As per the legal requirements for cognac production, this brandy was double-distilled in copper pot stills, and was matured in refill French oak for over 60-years until being transferred to glass demijohns in the mid-2000s. It stayed in these inert glass vessels until bottling in late 2023, with an absolutely tiny yield of just 24 x 500ml bottles at a cask strength of 45.2% ABV. Given that there's only such a tiny amount of this precious liquid, those 24 bottles are being sold by ballot (enter here), to be drawn on October 31st, 2024. If we were talking about whisky that period in glass wouldn't be considered part of the maturation, but we're talking about cognac here. Many older cognacs and brandies are transferred into glass to stop them taking on further wood influence and to stop further evaporation. Whether or not this storage period in glass has an effect on the spirit is controversial, but in this case that storage period was almost 20-years, so you'd have to assume that it has. This period spent in glass is why this cognac doesn't have an age statement, since Old Master don't agree with most mainstream brands which include this glass 'resting' period in their age statements. That's a commendable piece of integrity there, because an age statement of 76-77 years would've made this positively ancient cognac fly out the door. Instead they've gone with a simple "V.45" in reference to the year that the Ugni Blanc grapes were harvested, much like a vintage is used in the wine world, rather than referring to the year of distillation. It was distilled in 1946 and bottled in 2023, 

Once again, as with the other old cognacs and armagnacs bottled by Old Master Spirits, we need to talk about pricing. Back in 2015 I was lucky enough to try a 1946 vintage 52-year old Macallan single malt which had been bottled in 1997 with an original RRP of roughly $5,000 AUD. At the time that I tried this phenomenal single malt it was valued at $30,000 AUD. Now almost ten years later, and given what has happened to the global whisky market since, I shudder to think what that bottle would be worth. In 2015 Gordon & MacPhail released their 75-year old Mortlach single malt, which at the time was the oldest single malt whisky ever bottled. It had an RRP of £20,000, which equates to roughly $52,000 AUD today. More recently, Macallan's 81-year old - complete with ridiculous bronze sculpture - went for $125,000 USD. So with this 1945 vintage Tiffon cognac being of a similar age, if you include the time in glass at least, and with it being extremely scarce with just 24 x 500ml bottles available, it might surprise you to learn that the retail pricing from Old Master Spirits is just $1,299 AUD. In some social circles that would be considered an absolute bargain! As mentioned above, those 24 bottles are being sold by ballot, to be drawn on October 31st. Like all Old Master Spirits brandies, this cognac has had no flavouring or colouring added (see here for more information), and is non-chill filtered and bottled at cask strength. Let's get to it!

Old Master Spirits 1945 Vintage Tiffon Cognac, Bottled 2023. 45.2%. Cognac, France. 

Distilled 1946, matured in refill French oak for 60+ years, transferred to glass demijohns in mid-late 2000s. Bottled 2023. 24 x 500ml bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Rich red amber. 

Nose: Surprisingly bright & lively for something so old! Fruity & zesty, plenty going on here. Raisins & dried currants, dried & fresh orange peels, warm coffee grounds, and soft leather. Some furniture polish, sweet apricots & nectarines, caramelised figs. Very complex! Warm oak & wood spices with freeze-dried pineapple & raspberry. Touches of vanilla & lemon yoghurt and dried tea leaves. 

Texture: Medium weight. Silky, luscious, mega-fruity, lightly creamy. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: A little drying wood spice & tea leaves at first, then a big wave of fresh tropical fruit! I've never tasted a brandy like this! Under-ripe mango, tart pineapple, apricot & nectarine. That vanilla & lemon yoghurt note again which is delicious! Hints of freeze-dried raspberries & strawberries & orange furniture polish around the edges. 

Finish: Medium-long length. Dried herbs - rosemary & sage, maybe a couple of lime leaves? Chocolate-coated dried orange slices, soft leather, more of that lemon & vanilla yoghurt. Fresh stone fruits again (apricot & nectarine). Slight touch of gravy powder, and sweet pickled ginger. 

Score: 5 out of 5. 

Notes: Absolutely delicious. Luscious. Without doubt the finest "malternative" spirit that I've come across. Very fruity, bright & citrusy, balanced and complex. This is no one-trick pony, even after more than sixty years in French oak. Clearly it's been expertly managed during maturation, and I can see why it was moved to glass for the remaining 20-ish years - evaporation aside, it'd be a shame to lose any of that tropical fruit balancing against the wood influence (reminding anyone of some Bowmores?). It does have those herbal, spicy & tea leaf notes that we can expect in a well-aged cognac, but those fresh fruit & dried citrus notes keep that in check, and those flashes of vanilla & lemon yoghurt creaminess are fascinating. Very moreish too! This V45 cognac is an absolute mic-drop from this small independent operation, which is only four-years in - and what a way to celebrate their fourth birthday! For two gentlemen from Melbourne to pull of something like this is quite the achievement! 

Thanks to the generous chaps at Old Master Spirits once again for the sample for this review - it cannot be easy to part with anything this scarce, let alone a 75+ year old single cask cognac! They've really outdone themselves here, this is one is going to take some beating! Get in on that ballot folks!

Cheers!