We conclude our debut week of the Cognac-Expert 2025 Advent Calendar with a Seguinot Réserve de la Famille cognac. Though Seguinot represents a fresh addition to the More Drams portfolio, the house commands deep respect within Cognac circles – a distinction you’ll discover in our background section below. The calendar has delivered consistently very good expressions throughout this opening week, so let’s see if day 7’s pouch carries that momentum forward with one of Seguinot’s most treasured releases, the Réserve de la Famille.
Seguinot Cognac
The Seguinot family traces its connection to viticulture back to the 13th century, when ancestors first settled on lands in the Vendée region. However, the modern cognac house story begins in 1890, when Émile Seguinot founded his own Maison de Cognac during the phylloxera crisis that devastated European vineyards. Rather than see opportunity lost, Émile perceived potential in the abandoned vineyard lands in the Cognac region and established an authentic, family-run house committed to respecting both terroir and tradition.
Seguinot strategically established operations in Segonzac at La Nerolle, positioning the house at the heart of Grande Champagne – the most prestigious cru in Cognac. This location grants the estate access to the region’s unique calcaire (chalky) soils, renowned for producing eaux-de-vie of exceptional finesse and outstanding ageing potential. Gérard Seguinot, the current generation leader, manages today over 200 acres of vineyard holdings within this premier designation.
Seguinot hand-harvests Ugni Blanc grapes in early October at peak ripeness and distils the production using ancestral Charentais pot stills in a process unchanged since the house’s founding. The cognacs mature in Limousin oak barrels in the cellars, where the poetic ‘part of the angels’ – the evaporation that occurs over decades – gradually transforms the spirit into its characteristic amber hue and complex bouquet.
Since Émile’s founding, four generations of the Seguinot family have stewarded the house, each passing down secret blending traditions refined over more than a century. Gérard Seguinot represents the current generation, continuing family values and ensuring the preservation of this viticultural patrimony.
Seguinot Réserve De La Famille Cognac Review
The Seguinot Réserve de la Famille draws exclusively from Grande Champagne, with Seguinot distilling Ugni Blanc grapes – including the lees – through their two 25-hectolitre stills. The house crafts this cognac from a vatting of 30- to 40-year-old eaux-de-vie that matured in Limousin oak casks featuring wide grain and medium toast, crafted by Tonnellerie Doreau and cellared in their dry cellars. Seguinot bottles the cognac without additives, reducing it to 40% ABV with water alone. Expect to pay between €145 and €170 per bottle at retailers such as Cognac-Expert.
Colour:
Between rust and bronze.
Nose:
Neat: Copper notes, rancio, candied orange and candied orange peels, varnished exotic woods, hints of plum and pear eaux-de-vie, and mangoes, with a light citrusy acidity. In the background, a light and fresh minerality. Really nice, good intensity and elegance.
Palate:
Neat: The palate shows good intensity despite the minimum ABV, as well as a lovely creamy mouthfeel. Candied orange peels from the nose carry through to the palate as well as the vanished exotic woods, light wood spices with a nice citrusy sourness and a light and playful prickly side, good tension between the fruit and the wood.
Finish:
The same flavours continue onto the finish, with the Limousin oak tannins bringing a soft astringency and dryness on the gums. Grapefruit and pomelos add some additional tartness.
Comments:
This is my first cognac from the Seguinot house, and I’m glad Cognac-Expert added it into this year’s calendar. Of course, it’s often easier to have a good first look at a cognac house when you first try something towards the top of their range, but how many high-end cognacs were ruined by excessive dilution or additives? Here, despite the reduction to 40% ABV, both intensity and mouthfeel were preserved, and this changes everything.
Rating: 7.5/10
Advent calendar provided by Cognac-Expert.