ABK6 might seem like a fairly edgy and high fashion name for a Cognac, yet it's actually the acronym affectionally used by the Cognac-maker's daughter when she would sign off her text messages - this is Francis Abecassis' ABK6!

ABK6 when said in French comes off as Abecassis, or Ah-bay-ka-cease, and was used by Elodie Abecassis to abbreviate her last name. Francis had taken notice and thus decided to use ABK6 as the brand name for his Cognacs.

Elodie and her father Francis Abecassis.

ABK6 comes from the Domaine de Chez Maillard (now Domaines Francis Abecassis) near the village of Claix, and was established in 2005 in a bid to appeal to a younger audience - it also emphasises that it's a single estate Cognac, by which it means that everything is done at the family's estate, from cultivating the grapes, to vinification, distillation, ageing, blending and bottling. The Abecassis family has been producing Cognacs for over a century, and owns several other brands including Leyrat, Reviseur and Grands Domaines, serving as one of the regions largest independent producers of Cognac.

From vine to glass.

The Cognacs from ABK6 are 100% Ugni Blanc grapes and comes from over 460 hectares of vineyards, across 4 vineyards located in the Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne and Fins Bois regions of Cognac. Interestingly, ABK6 looks to ensure the best is brought out from each estate, and thus employs a dedicated distiller for each one of its vineyards, who then produces the Cognacs at the vineyard's own distillery, which the brand says ensures that each vineyard's team has a full understanding of its own terroir.

In total, ABK6 has 30 cellars and over 4,000 barrels of eau-de-vie being ageing at any point, and thus it can draw from a vast library of brandies to piece together and blend into the final expressions. Once the blend is composed, it is kept in large barrels in the cellar for several months for the various components to marry together before bottling.

And so today we're going to try ABK6's VSOP and XO ranges!

Let's go!

Cognac Review: ABK6 VSOP Single Estate Cognac, 40% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber

Aroma: Great mellowness and roundedness here with big notes of black grapes, raisins black and yellow, a mustiness of lacquered wood antique stores. It leads into dried lychees, backed by a more herbal and rich bit of manuka honey and herbal lozenge. It's incredibly perfumed and aromatic, with a slight walnut nuttiness.

Taste: Really nice richness here, very smooth, silky and honeyed. More of those herbal cough drops, as well as fruity tones of yellow raisins, sliced apples, it's got loads of maltose candy layering the more herbal and medicinal roots of mugwort and wheatgrass. It's sweet, rich, herbal, and yet without any bitterness. The roundedness and depth here is substantial and also very candied. It's medium-bodied. Also some chestnut montblanc into the finish.

Finish: More on white chocolate shavings, accompanied by all that maltose candy, honey and yellow raisins. It's also giving tanghulu grapes coated in rock sugar and dried apricots in honey. The white chocolate persists all the way through, incredibly candied!

My Thoughts 

This was a stunning Cognac to say the least! Really took me away, first by how rounded and candied it was, yet it wasn't cloying, with a lightness to the richness, almost glistening, and then subsequently by that lovely richly sweet herbal quality on the palate, balancing out the vibrant fruits with more earthy medicinal notes; finally on the finish it was superbly heavy on that white chocolate, and honey and maltose coated fruits!

This was incredibly impressive, it's rich, rounded, great complexity and such an amazing flavour profile, offering up so much more than the typical fruits and honey, and also such depth! At each turn it's got something totally unique to showcase, and all the whilst with such richness and lightness. Such elegance!

Hard to believe this is a VSOP and for the price and availability, this slaps so hard! Completely bewildering!

Cognac Review: ABK6 XO Single Estate Cognac, 40% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Amber

Aroma: It's more musty here, with old wooden furniture, yet paired with a bright outline of oranges. There's noticeably more depth and richness here - way richer in fact, what a surprise! That orange note continues to develop into orange blossoms and candied oranges, and then leading into black raisins, dried figs, with a gentle candied nuttiness of candied almonds and marzipan. It's incredibly rich yet not heavy.

Taste: The staggering richness and depth carries on to the palate, yet somehow simultaneously brightening up with more of that maltose candy. It's also got a slight savouriness to it. Yellow and black raisins, cooked figs, and we're back to the herbal and medicinal bit of mugwort and traditional Chinese herbal roots. There's a noticeable dryness here, along with some minerality. It's quite the textural contrast between the honeyed richness and the dryness from the herbal roots. It's medium-bodied, feels fuller, and with a very solid intensity to it.

Finish: The dryness persists here, with a slight bitterness too, nothing overwhelming, in fact adding a nice counterpoint to the intense richness. More on herbal honey candy and candied orange, with some of the tannin grains firming up with the dryness.

My Thoughts 

The additional age here definitely shows with deeper and darker flavours here, as well as being substantially richer than the VSOP - which itself is a surprise as the VSOP too was impressively rich - that said, the XO seems to have developed a more pronounce dryness as well, with more of the oak being displayed here. It's alot heavier on the traditional herbal roots here, with less in the way of vibrant fruits. The XO does trade off some elegance that we saw in the VSOP for an intense richness, where this feels alot more chiseled and muscularly structured as compared to the VSOP.

The VSOP works great as a crowdpleaser, but the XO definitely feels more like an everyday Cognac. The VSOP is much more approachable, but the XO feels alot more mature.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot