Antique Tesseron Cognacs

[RickBarry]

Thanks for the invitation to post again, Don, which I haven't done in a long time. So let me do so again by talking about an incredible tasting event at the old Pearsons Wine & Spirits store next to the equally old (post-WWII) Old Europe Restaurant on upper Wisconsin avenue (2436 NW. It happened on Nov 2, which I learned about from the excellent PWS newsletter (call one of the new owners David and Helen Choi).

David and Helen have continued former owner Steve Silver's practice of having the Tesseron distributor and a Tesseron representive put on a tasting of their finest old cognacs every 2 years or so. Last time was in 2007. These are not vintage cognacs, but rather a blend of Cognacs even older than the dates infer. There are four of them . . . Lot No 29, Lot No 53, Lot No 76 and Lot No 90 . . . which translates to mean that they are made from a blend of Cognacs from 1929 and older; 1953 and older; 1976 and older; and 1990 and older. Thus they are called "Lot" followed by the predominant year of the blend. Without requirement to purchase them,they are all opened for tasting. I had tastings of all of the above Lots -- 1929, 1953, 1976 and 1990, all of which were incredibly smooth and ranging in price from $350-$50 per bottle. I do have some excellent cognacs/armanacs, but I'm not really a collector as such. But I know when I really like them, and these were the best ever for my tastes. I did wind up purchasing the 1953 as a celebration bottle for the year of our first date. And learning a lot that I didn't know about cognac, which is admitedly a great deal, e.g., don't lay spirits bottles down; no need or don't evacuate them to keep them; NEVER drink them in a snifter glass (there were 2 Reidel cognac glasses with my 1953 gift bottle) and NEVER heat the glass/liquor up.

Mark your 2011 calendar...

Rick Barry

Arlington, VA