Maison Ferrand

Maison Ferrand is one of the world’s premier boutique producers of fine spirits, and the architect of an historical spirits movement.

The company was founded by Alexandre Gabriel in 1989 who breathed life back into the mothballed Pierre Ferrand cognac house, situated within the Golden Triangle of Cognac’s Grand Champagne region.

He embarked on a mission to preserve age-old, craft production methods that capture the true expression of the spirit, and a commitment to revisit the classics while advancing innovation.

The adventure began with Ferrand Cognac, a 100% Grande Champagne Cognac with roots in the region stretching back over four centuries and ten generations.

Pierre Ferrand’s vineyards have expanded to 200 hectares and all of them are in Grande Champagne.

The house has sidestepped the traditional Cognac designations such as VS and VSOP, and uses names such as Ancestrale and Sélection des Anges instead. Alongside are interesting innovations, such as 10 Générations, which is aged partly in Sauternes barrels.

Pierre Ferrand has been making cognac since 1702 and is now the 6th largest producer in the Cognac region. Where it differs from the larger cognac houses nearby is that Pierre Ferrand doesn’t delegate during production – choosing, instead, to oversee the entire process – from grape to glass.

The Ferrand Chateau is surrounded by its one estate of Grande Champagne grapes. Made entirely from these grapes, Ferrand controls the distillation on the lees, the blending, the ageing in 270 litre Limousin oak casks and the decanting into some seriously handsome bottles.

In 1996, Alexandre created Citadelle Gin, the Gin de France, spearheading the movement for French gins. Due to strict regulations imposed by Cognac’s appellation d’origine controlee (AOC), Alexandre Gabriel was obligated to stop using his cognac stills for seven months of the year. After five long years of negotiations, he obtained the AOC authorization to distill gin during the period that the stills were usually dormant, giving the traditional copper pot stills new life and purpose.

Alexandre then introduced Plantation Rum in 1999, reflecting his passion for old rum-making techniques and implementing the signature double ageing process that distinguishes these spirits. After several years ageing in Bourbon casks in the tropics, Plantation Rum is then shipped on boats to Château de Bonbonnet in France, where the second maturation process takes place in Ferrand French oak casks, enhancing the rum with delicate tannic undertones.

In March 2017, Maison Ferrand acquired the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados and one-third of the renowned, which owns Clarendon, Long Pond and Inswood distilleries. Thanks to these exceptional production tools, Alexandre Gabriel fulfilled his vision of creating amazing rums through an ongoing experimentation process that pairs modern techniques with the ancestral methods of making fine rums.