Era:  1894 Vintage / Bottled 1960s

ABV:  40%

Volume:  70cl

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A particularly good-looking bottle of cognac from one of the region's finest houses: Croizet, founded in 1805 by Léon Croizet and yet the family had been making wines since the 16th century.  Benjamin Léon, grandson of founder Léon, was the owner of the house when this vintage was produced in 1894, but is famous for his earlier interventions to save the cognac industry.  In 1883, he took the bold move to replant the vines ravaged by Phylloxera with American stock and to surround them by stone walls, an effective choice that kept the transplanted vines from becoming diseased.  For this Benjamin was awarded France's highest honour, the Légion d'honneur, which was established by Emperor Napoléon in 1802, just three years before the Croizet house opened its door. The cognac in this bottle, from the 1894 vintage, was one of the first vintages made from the grapes harvested from the vines planted just 10 years earlier; sadly it lacks its wax badge to the shoulder bearing the date 1894.  Famously Benjamin also participated in the creation of the 1909 Law that regulated the appellation cognac.