Ragnaud Sabourin Archives

We’re back to Cognac advent calendars for our second year, with this time again, the Cognac-Expert advent calendar. Before we start with the first cognac of this 2025 Cognac-Expert Advent Calendar, a Ragnaud Sabourin XXO Cognac, let me add a disclaimer, for transparency purposes. If you read my reviews last year, you saw that most of the cognacs were delicious or even utterly splendid, with just a few of them being of a lower level. But, once again, this was my own and humble opinion, based on my analysis and my preferences, so it’s not the Holy Word. If last year I had bought myself the advent calendar, I was lucky that this year it was sent to me by Cognac-Expert directly, with no strings attached. We were all clear that I would still write what I want and what I think, as I’ve always done, and as I plan to always do. Thanks again to Taylor at Cognac-Expert, who handled all that. It’s very appreciated! End of disclaimer, let’s crack on with the holy liquid that was in yesterday’s pouch!

Today, we’re exploring three Grande Champagne cognacs: Laurichesse, Marancheville, and Ragnaud Sabourin. I must confess, my appreciation for cognac has been steadily growing. For a long time, I was so captivated by whisky that other spirits seemed dull in comparison, lacking the depth and complexity of flavours. However, over the past six to twelve months, I’ve delved deeper into cognac, learning to distinguish between the different crus and even recognizing them blind sometimes. I realise now that I was mistaken to overlook cognac before; it’s a remarkable spirit with a rich history that whisky can’t always match. Now, let’s see how these three cognacs measure up. I haven’t researched their ages beforehand, so we’ll taste them in order of increasing ABV.

More Drams, Less Drama

Ragnaud Sabourin

Ragnaud Sabourin XXO Cognac

Laurichesse, Marancheville & Ragnaud Sabourin Grande Champagne Cognacs