There are spirits that seem to belong less to the world of commerce than to the long dream of human patience. Delamain, the revered Grande Champagne house, has built its name on that dream. In 2025, it introduces something at once intimate and monumental: two inaugural expressions in its new Rare Cask Ancestral series. Limited to 190 and 180 bottles, respectively, Rare Cask Ancestral 25.1 and 25.2 stand as testaments to generations of Cellar Masters who understood that the rarest cognacs are not made but found, almost like fossils of time.
A Heritage Written in Oak and Air
Delamain’s vineyards in Grande Champagne—the premier cru of Cognac—produce eaux-de-vie uniquely capable of enduring decades, even centuries, of ageing. Most casks surrender their secrets within a predictable arc. But a few, by some quiet alchemy of oak, air, and human stewardship, continue to evolve long after others have gone mute. These are the casks that Cellar Masters guard as family legacies. “Ancestral” is more than a title; it’s a recognition of continuity, of forebears tending a living heritage through the slow breathing of wood.
Two Casks, Two Narratives of Time
The debut releases, Ancestral 25.1 and 25.2, tell parallel but divergent stories of maturation. Rare Cask Ancestral 25.1 spent its life in an unusual position: beside the staircase leading to Delamain’s underground cellars, exposed to natural light and the regular shifting of air. Its guardianship under Charles Braastad became almost ritualistic, the cask’s subtle liveliness reflecting both environment and oversight. The cognac it yielded is delicate yet vibrant, its finish ethereal, like memory dissolving even as it sharpens in recall.
Ancestral 25.2 lived a contrasting existence. Tucked in a dark, secluded corner, it was one of the last barrels shaped by Delamain’s own cooperage. Forgotten by most, it deepened in silence, absorbing the weight of years into a layered, complex elegance. When opened, it revealed immense power held in tension with finesse—a paradox that only Grande Champagne’s chalk-rich soils and the alchemy of time could deliver.
Bottled at Nature’s Strength
Both expressions are bottled at their natural strengths: 43.6% ABV for Ancestral 25.1 and 44.4% ABV for Ancestral 25.2. Each bottle, hand-numbered, is an unrepeatable record of conditions that will never exist again in exactly the same way. They join Delamain’s Pléiade collection, a family of rare single-cask releases celebrated for authenticity and transparency.
A Culmination in Auction
The release of Rare Cask Ancestral is not just commercial—it borders on ceremonial. At year’s end, an exclusive Bonhams auction will unite both expressions, an event certain to draw collectors, connoisseurs, and those who see in these bottles more than liquid: they see continuity, patience, and the possibility of tasting time itself.
For Delamain, this is both a preservation and an unveiling. With Rare Cask Ancestral 25.1 and 25.2, the house reminds the world that great cognac is not about immediacy. It’s about endurance, about what emerges when generations conspire with wood and silence.
For more information, head over to the brand’s official website.
Last year, Delamain celebrated its 200th anniversary with the launch of L’Edition Rare du Bicentenaire.
