Professional Distillers are specializing in Cognac distillation. Proficient in Charentais copper pot stills and various methods, they offer distillation services to grape growers without their own equipment. They produce Cognac as per agents' requests, serving as vital links between boiler-less grape growers and trading companies.


Copyright BNIC / Jonathan BRUNETEAU

Distillers often possess variously shaped and sized stills, ranging from a dozen to fifty, meeting tasting committee requirements of trading companies. Consequently, professional distillers often maintain long-term collaborations with clients, sometimes spanning over a century, demonstrating immense mutual trust among companies and even families.

In the Charente region, distillers adopt another mode, known as grower-distillers Planter-Distillers, referring to individuals owning vineyards and engaging in distillation. From the end of harvest to March 31st sharp, after harvesting and fermenting grapes, distillers commence work following the rhythm of copper pot stills, using tasting glasses to collect the heads or tails of the first or second distillation, obtaining the perfect aromas from the core part.


Copyright BNIC / Aurelien TERRADE

Every year, distillers conduct micro-tests on each barrel of self-regulated wine in the winemaking laboratory to ensure optimal distillation results. Each trading house adheres to its Cognac distillation specifications, encompassing different levels of lees, recovery of heads and secondary heads, temperature, flow rate, and the cutting points of heads and secondary heads. This is the birth process of the brand's style, creating the unique beauty of Cognac even before aging and blending.