Maturation & Ageing

Cognac must rest in oak casks for at least two years before it can be sold. That's the legal minimum, and many spirits age for far longer. Over this time the water-clear spirit gradually turns to amber.

A Cognac's age is tracked by its own calendar system, the comptes. The spirit from the harvest year carries Compte 00. On the first of April following the harvest it becomes Compte 0, and every subsequent first of April adds one.

VS, VSOP and XO aren't brands but age categories. VS requires at least Compte 2, VSOP Compte 4, Napoléon Compte 6. Since 1 April 2018, XO, Hors d'âge and Extra require Compte 10, meaning at least ten years, up from six previously. There's also the XXO category, requiring at least 14 years. In every case, what counts is the youngest spirit in the blend.

As the spirit ages, it evaporates. According to the BNIC, this costs around 41 million bottles every year, the angel's share, known in French as part des anges. At the same time, roughly 2.2 billion bottles' worth of spirit lie ageing in casks across the region. For the houses, this is a loss built into the plan from the start, one that continues with every year the spirit spends in cask.

Walk through Cognac or Jarnac and you'll see the effects on the walls: the chais, the ageing warehouses, are often coated in a black film. It comes from a fungus that feeds on the alcohol vapours in the air.

Once a spirit is fully mature, it's often transferred to large glass demijohns, known as dame-jeannes, for long-term storage, so it stops taking on any more wood character. The room holding a house's oldest stocks is called the paradis. Caramel colouring, oak infusion and sugar are permitted only within narrow limits to adjust flavour and colour.