Memory: An Avalanche of 2012 Awards for Alexandre Gabriel and his Company, Cognac Ferrand

October 2012

Alexandre Gabriel, Plantation 3 Stars Rums And Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao Win Major Awards At London Rum Fair, Berlin Rum Fest And Berlin Bar Covent

It’s time for Alexandre Gabriel, president and proprietor of artisanal spirits producer Cognac Ferrand to make some more room on the mantle—he has come home with armfuls of awards for his fine spirits. In the span of three weeks at three international bar shows, Alexandre Gabriel and his exceptional new Plantation 3 Stars White Rum and new Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao have come home with major awards.

At the German Rum Festival Berlin, which took place the first week of October, Plantation 3 Stars Rum, the new white rum from Cognac Ferrand, won Best White Rum. Plantation 3 Stars is made from a blend of rums from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and is the first white rum in Ferrand’s Plantation portfolio.

Only one week later, at the UK Rum Fest held in London, an elite gathering of rum industry experts, Plantation 3 Stars Rum won yet again, winning the award for Best White Rum.

At the same UK Rum Fest Golden Barrel Award, Alexandre Gabriel was voted Rum Master Blender of the Year, a recognition of his efforts creating stellar rums, including the new Plantation 3 Stars and the expansive portfolio of Plantation rums which include blended rums from Barbados and numerous vintage, single-nation Plantation rums that are double-aged in a proprietary manner in old Cognac casks, a technique only performed by Ferrand.

On October 9 and 10, at Bar Covent in Berlin, the annual trade show for the German bar industry, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao was awarded Spirit of the Year.

“It’s a great and humbling honor to be named Master Blender of the Year,” said Gabriel, who is also the producer of Pierre Ferrand Cognac and Citadelle Gin. “I have been doing this for 23 years and I am so glad that our obsessive work is being noticed. I take my work very seriously. It is nice to see our efforts appreciated. I am proud of all we have done at House Ferrand. I love the creative part of my job. Our goal is to create pure pleasure in each bottle. We work for the ones who love the good things of life and it is to them that I dedicate all these awards. They are the ones who keep me motivated.”

These awards come on the heels of Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac winning Best New Product at Tales of the Cocktail in July, one of the spirit industry’s most treasured awards.

Here, a little bit about the award winners:

ALEXANDRE GABRIEL
Alexandre Gabriel was born and raised in France on a farm in southern Burgundy near the medieval town of Cluny, where his grandfather taught him how to make wine and distill spirits. Alexandre went to university in Lyon and then came to the U.S. as an exchange student before returning to Paris to attend business school. More than 20 years ago Alexandre Gabriel came upon an ancient and almost defunct Cognac house and built it into what is known today as Cognac Ferrand, in the heart of the Grande Champagne district of Cognac. Through his passion and vision, Alexandre Gabriel turned the small Cognac House into the specialist of artisanal spirits before the term was even coined.

PLANTATION RUM 3 STARS
Alexandre Gabriel named Plantation 3 Stars in honor of the three rum-producing stars of the Caribbean from which Plantation 3 Stars is crafted: Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica. He wanted to make a white rum that stood out from all others by using the company’s exceptional Cognac blending skills. Plantation 3 Stars is a blend of 3-year aged Trinidad rum, 12-year aged Jamaican rum (both carbon filtered to maintain its white color while preserving the aromatics developed and refined by aging) and un-aged rums from Barbados and Jamaica.  Launched nationwide in September 2012, Plantation 3 Stars (41.2% ABV) retails for approximately $24.99/1L bottle.

PIERRE FERRAND DRY CURACAO
Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao is based on a 19th century recipe and is a traditional French Orange Curaçao made from the peels of Curaçao oranges and spices blended with brandy and Pierre Ferrand Cognac. While Curaçao is made predominantly with Curaçao sundried orange peels, Ferrand also uses up to 14 other ingredients to enrich and bring forward the orange flavors. It is a rich, complex and balanced liqueur that will bring new sophistication to punches, slings, fizzes and more. Launched nationwide in May 2012, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao (40% ABV) retails for approximately $29.99/750ml bottle.

PIERRE FERRAND 1840 ORIGINAL FORMULA COGNAC
Created to recapture the spirit of the quintessential cocktail days of the 1800s, Pierre Ferrand Cognac 1840 Original Formula is a revival of the classic “three-star” Cognac. This eminently mixable Cognac was modeled on a well-preserved bottle of Pinet Castillon Cognac from the year 1840. Back in the 19th century, when the art of the cocktail as we know it first came together, barkeepers knew that nothing made for a better mixed drink than a good “three-star” Cognac, young enough to be lively yet darker and richer in flavor. Pierre Ferrand 1840 is bottled at 90 proof, higher than most Cognacs, making it perfect in cocktails, especially those of the 1800s like Crustas, Juleps and Punches. Launched nationwide in July 2011, Pierre Ferrand 1840 (45% ABV) retails for approximately $45.00/750ml bottle.

ABOUT COGNAC FERRAND
Pierre Ferrand Cognac is produced by Cognac Ferrand, one of the world’s premier boutique producer of fine spirits and the architect of the artisanal spirits movement. The award-winning Pierre Ferrand Cognac portfolio is available in fine restaurants, bars, lounges and liquor stores nationwide and includes: 1840 Original Formula, Ambre, Reserve, Selection des Anges, Abel, Ancestrale and the rare vintages 1972 and 1914. Cognac Ferrand has offices and production premises at Château de Bonbonnet in Ars, France and its brands are distributed in more than 40 countries. The brands available in the U.S. include the award-winning: Pierre Ferrand Cognac, Citadelle Gin, Plantation Rum, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, Mathilde Liqueurs, Landy Cognac, Cerbois Armagnac and Daron Calvados. The portfolio of Cognac Ferrand products is imported to the U.S. by W.J. Deutsch & Sons.