Vintage Cognac, or Old Bottle of Booze?

October 8, 2009 9:01 AM

Do you know vintage cognac? My Father-in-law was handed down a bottle of, assumably, nice cognac. It was given to his father as a gift from his company in the 1930s. It's been sitting in the basket it was packaged in for years and years and we'd really like to have more information about it. It's a bottle of "Cognac Napoleon, Grande Fine Champagne, Reserve". Pictures of the front label, the mark on the bottle's neck, and the back label.

The only identifying info is the name "Reserve of L. Favert & Co." and "Imported by The Creevy Trading Cy" of Chicago on the back.

The back also says "Over 60 years old, bottled in 1910".

I've google as much as I can and the only thing that comes up looking remotely like this, is Cognac Napoleon Grande Champagne 1811 Reserve , and it's not that ( seen here halfway down the page).

Any insights or leads to what this bottle is and, perhaps, what it is worth, would be appreciated. Don't know if we should keep it as a nice heirloom or drink it as a nice cognac.

posted by qwip to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Best answer: Charles Curtis is the Head of Wine (which includes rare Spirits) for the auction house Christies. You should contact him. I am sure that he will either be able to identify it or be able to refer you to someone who can. I found this email for him: [e-mail]

Please post what you find out. I'm very curious as well.
posted by skewedoracle at 9:38 AM on October 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

What are the words obscured by the torn part of the back label? Is it "Shipped in 1934, under the..."?
posted by IanMorr at 11:57 AM on October 8, 2009

Response by poster: Yep. You can just make out "Shipped", but the "in" could be anything. What you see in the picture is the only part of that word that is visible.
posted by qwip at 12:10 PM on October 8, 2009

You could try checking with Courvoisier. These days at least I think any Cognac that says Napoleon on it is one of theirs. That might not have been true back then of course but they may still have some info.
posted by IanMorr at 12:13 PM on October 8, 2009

Wait, I am confused, how does it say "Over 60 years old, bottled in 1910" if it was acquired in the 30s? Of course, I don't know anything about cognac, so I guess it could sit in a barrel for 40 years??

Sorry for the slight derail, my curiosity has been piqued :)
posted by theRussian at 1:15 PM on October 8, 2009

Response by poster: Wait, I am confused, how does it say "Over 60 years old, bottled in 1910" if it was acquired in the 30s?

It would seem to me that this cognac is from the reserves of L. Favert and was in some other receptical, perhaps the original cask, who knows? Then it was bottled in 1910. This bottle was then imported by The Creevy Trading Company in 1934, then sold to my father-in-law's father's boss.

Clear as mud.
posted by qwip at 1:31 PM on October 8, 2009

how does it say "Over 60 years old, bottled in 1910"

The age statement these days is based upon how long the youngest eaux-de-vie has been in barrel before bottling. I'm not certain whether that definition was strictly applied for this bottle, but it would mean that the liquid inside went into a barrel no later than 1850. Grande Champagne refers to the origin of the grapes, Fine means "old", and Napoleon is another age/grade statement.

Like whisk(e)y, Cognac doesn't age in bottle, and age statements have nothing to do with the time between bottling and acquisition.
posted by holgate at 2:39 PM on October 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Heard back from Mr. Curtis. Seems to likely have a value of $500 to $700, but no further information on its provenance.
posted by qwip at 8:44 AM on October 12, 2009