TOTC Best New Product

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac Wins Best New Product at Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards 2012 

How A Small Cognac House Put Cognac Back In Cocktails

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 Cognac Ferrand is honored to announce that Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac® has won Best New Product at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail® Spirited Awards. Pierre Ferrand 1840 was launched last year at the same cocktail festival to great fanfare and has since become the darling and go-to Cognac for bartenders across the world. At a time when outstanding bartenders are creating cocktails in the same manner that master chefs create great dishes, this win for a Cognac heralds the resurgence of Cognac and Cognac cocktails and puts this versatile spirit back where it once was a mainstay – behind the bar!  

Created by Cognac Ferrand owner Alexandre Gabriel with help from cocktail historian David Wondrich to recapture the spirit of the quintessential cocktail days of the 1800s, Pierre Ferrand Cognac 1840 Original Formula  is a revival of the classic three-star Cognac. Back in the nineteenth century, when the art of the cocktail as we know it first came together, barkeepers knew that nothing made for a better mixed drink than a good “three-star” Cognac.  Pierre Ferrand 1840 is bottled at 90 proof, higher than most Cognacs, making it exceptionally mixable in cocktails like Crustas, Juleps and Punches.

Alexandre Gabriel says, “Winning this recognition from my peers is both hugely gratifying and humbling. We are a small producer in the middle of the Cognac vineyards. At Cognac Ferrand we are a team of passionate characters doing what we love to do – make great spirits. Cognac deserves to be back behind the bar in a place of honor where it enjoyed decades of prominence as THE spirit for cocktails. We created Pierre Ferrand 1840 to be that kind of Cognac and to receive this honor shows that we did the right thing. We are very happy.”

The Spirited Awards are the highlight of Tales of the Cocktail, the annual five-day cocktail festival in New Orleans created by Ann and Paul Tuennerman that this year celebrates its 10th Anniversary. Each July, Tales attracts more than 22,000 people who are passionate about all things spirits-related. This year, 17 illustrious international judges – including world-class bartenders, bar owners, brand ambassadors and spirits/cocktail historians, experts and authors – voted in the Best New Product category and deemed Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula the winner.  It is the first Cognac to win this prestigious award. “Cognac has always been a well-respected spirit, but without a lot of visibility in modern cocktails,” says Ann Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail. “Pierre Ferrand 1840, by winning Best New Product at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, has shown that Cognac is also able to get the respect of bartenders, with a product that has the rich and sophisticated flavor for sipping as well as the depth and complexity necessary to let it shine in a cocktail.” Upon receiving the award, Gabriel dedicated part of his acceptance speech to the bartenders of the world. “Our job is to build fine instruments but it’s for you to play them,” he said. “It’s for you to make the music.”  

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Joaquin Simo, the 2012 Spirited Award winner for American Bartender of the Year, is one of the 1840 music makers, and says: “Cognac is a historically significant cocktail ingredient whose release from its imprisonment in a snifter is long overdue.  Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac fills an important niche for cocktail bartenders, providing us with a delicious and high-proof spirit designed for mixing in both classic cocktails and modern interpretations.  Fruity and floral notes provide a highly versatile base while the higher alcohol percentage boosts flavors and ensures the traditional character of Cognac remains front and center.  Its combination of high quality and mixable price point ensure it will be found on the back bars and speed rails of great bars around the world.”  

Mr. Simo was recently a bartender at acclaimed Death & Co. (2010 Spirited Award winner, Best American Bar) and will be owner/operator of Pouring Ribbons, a bar opening soon in NYC’s East Village where Pierre Ferrand 1840 will be available.

 

To celebrate and honor Tales’ 10th Anniversary this year, Pierre Ferrand created a limited edition, commemorative bottling of Pierre Ferrand 1840. Each of the 650 numbered bottles bears the Tales of the Cocktail anniversary logo and an inscription: “Limited edition hand bottled in June 2012 in honor of Ann and Paul Tuennerman for the 10th Anniversary of Tales of the Cocktail.” These commemorative bottles are being sold ONLY in New Orleans and are available now at retailers while supplies last (SRP $45.00).

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac (45% ABV) is available at bars/restaurants and retailers across the country for a suggested retail price of $45.00.