Cognac is not just a spirit, but an eau-de-vie (‘water of life’) which keeps the essence of the initial wine, losing none of its pleasant aromas, but exalting them.

Over the ages, the methods of distillation have not changed. Today, the identical style of copper alembics (stills) are still being used as they have been since the sixteenth century. Distillers in the Cognac region have been using the same double distillation method since ancient times. From November until the end of March, the alembics work continuously day and night to turn the wine into eau-de-vie.

In the House of Roland Bru, distillation takes place in 12 ‘Charentais’ stills. Unlike many other distillers, we only use small stills in the distillation process, as they allow better control of the quality of the eau-de-vie.

The first distillation yields a distillate called ‘brouillis’, which concentrates the richest floral aromas. During this first phase the boiled wine release its alcohol into vapour, which turns in the upper part of the alembic and passes through the ‘gooseneck flask’, to condense in the coil. It then passes through the cooler to become the first distillate (28°).

The second distillation uses the brouillis to give a more refined and stronger alcohol named the ‘Good Heating’. The Master Blender must then separate this final product into three parts: the Head, the Heart (a clear eau-de-vie at 70°), and finally the Tail. Only the Heart is used in the creation of Roland Bru’s Cognac. Distillation is supervised by our Master Blender Philippe Fillon, who dedicated the past 40 years to Roland Bru cognac, and who alone holds the keys to perfection.