There are spirits that celebrate history—and then there are spirits that resurrect it. With three extraordinary new releases, Sazerac de Forge & Fils looks not to the recent past, but to the shimmering dawn of Cognac itself, rekindling the artistry and character that defined the category in the 18th and 19th centuries.
These new expressions—XO, Grande Champagne Vintage 2000, and the majestic 50-Year-Old—carry the soul of a house founded in 1782 by Bernard Sazerac de Forge, a visionary whose Cognacs once traveled the courts, salons, and dinner tables of Europe and the Americas. His name would later inspire the iconic Sazerac cocktail of New Orleans before the phylloxera epidemic silenced the domaine’s cellars more than a century ago.
Today, under the stewardship of the global Sazerac Company, the house rises once more. But this revival is not a recreation—it is a resurrection of a philosophy: Cognac made true to the vine, crafted from diverse varietals, patient maturation, and the kind of nuanced blending that modern production rarely affords.
A Return to the Roots of Grande Champagne
The new era of Sazerac de Forge begins in Segonzac, the heart of Grande Champagne, where organic practices and an unusually broad palette of grape varietals allow the domaine to echo the flavors of a pre-phylloxera world. Cellar Master Denis Lahouratate oversees this revival with a simple ethos: every expression must reveal a personality—an individuality—rather than a formula.
“Each eau-de-vie has its own voice,” Lahouratate says. “Our role is to preserve that voice, not overpower it.”
The three new releases epitomize this philosophy, each telling a different story of time, terroir, and craftsmanship.
Sazerac de Forge XO — Elegance in Its Purest Form
The XO is the most immediate expression of the house style—soft-spoken yet intricately detailed. Composed of eaux-de-vie aged more than twenty years in French oak, it opens with a gentle richness: dried apricot, honeyed florals, warm spice, and a silkiness that lingers long after the first sip.
Bottled at 43% ABV with no added coloring, the XO offers a natural golden glow, housed in a rounded glass silhouette adorned with a natural cork, wooden cap, and a satin blue ribbon—the return of “Sazerac Blue,” once stamped on pottery exported throughout the 1800s.
It is understated luxury—refined, textural, precise. The ideal reintroduction to a historic maison finding its voice again.
Grande Champagne Vintage 2000 — A Single Harvest, Perfectly Preserved
For collectors, the Grande Champagne 2000 is where the revival becomes truly compelling. It is the first single-vintage release from the reborn maison—a Cognac drawn from one harvest, matured for over two decades, and bottled without blending.
The result is purity in its most elegant form: ripe stone fruit, exotic florals, delicate spice, and a full, rounded texture shaped by the region’s chalk-rich soils. Bottled at 44.8% ABV, it arrives in a gracefully curved, clear-glass bottle with cream, gold, and blue accents that evoke understated French luxury.
This is not simply a Cognac—it is a time capsule.
Sazerac de Forge 50-Year-Old — A Masterpiece of Patience
Then there is the pinnacle.
The 50-Year-Old is an extraordinary blend of three eaux-de-vie from 1970, 1971, and 1974—each hand-sealed in wax and left undisturbed for half a century. Time has given them notes of stewed figs, dates, dark chocolate, macadamia, fine tobacco, and subtle leather, all interwoven with a structure that remains remarkably alive.
Presented in a crystal decanter etched with the Sazerac de Forge crest and crowned with a sculpted crystal lid, it is a tribute to the grandeur of the original domaine—a Cognac that speaks in the quiet, confident voice only age can produce.
Released in limited quantities, it stands among the most distinguished Cognacs available today.
A House Built on Legacy, Reimagined for the Modern Collector
Taken together, these releases represent more than a portfolio expansion—they signal a philosophical shift in Cognac’s contemporary landscape. Sazerac de Forge & Fils is not competing with the modern maisons; it is reintroducing a lost chapter of the craft, one defined by varietal diversity, organic estate cultivation, and the artistry of slow maturation.
For collectors and connoisseurs, the opportunity is clear: this is a maison rediscovering itself in real time, guided by four centuries of Sazerac heritage and an ambition to honor Cognac as it was originally conceived.
A limited allocation is also offered through Legacy de Forge, a new global platform powered by Blockbar, for collectors seeking rare bottles with impeccable provenance.
