Delamain Bottle Catalogue (last updated: Sep 27, 2023)
(550 regular bottles (50cl and up), 59 magnums and 136 miniatures (up to 375ml), but still not complete)
Introduction
Delamain was established in 1824 as Roullet & Delamain, although they were in the cognac business before, when James Delamain and Isaac Ranson (James’s farther-in-law) started a cognac company under the name of Ranson & Delamain in 1763. Isaac Ranson’s family was in the cognac trade even from 1725 on. But the Ranson & Delamain firm went bankrupt in 1817 and the family started anew seven years later.
Delamain is well-known for only making grande champagne cognacs of XO quality or better (however, there have been a few exceptions) and also for their vintage cognacs. They were one of only a few firms who always held the right to produce vintage cognacs, even when this was forbidden for all other firms from 1962 untill 1987.
Contents:
1. Pale & Dry
2. Vesper and XO
3. Sélection and Très Vieux Cognac (predecessor of the Très Vénérable)
4. Très Vénérable Cognac
5. Extra
6. Réserve de la Famille and Ancestral
7. Vintages
– 7a. before 1900
– 7b. 1900 until 1940
– 7c. 1945 until 1969
– 7d. 1970 until 1979
– 7e. 1980 until now
8. Exceptions (not grande champagnes)
– 8a. three stars and other young cognacs
– 8b. Liquid Gold (VSOP)
– 8c. Napoléon (Aigle Impériale)
– 8d. Fine Champagne cognacs
– 8e. Vintage exceptions (fine champagne and petite champagne)
9. Limited Editions
– 9.1. Pleiade
– 9.2. Single vineyard
– 9.3. Other
10. Baccarat and other decanters
11. Magnums
12. Miniatures (up to 5cl)
– 12a. Three Star miniatures
– 12b. Finalo Special
– 12c. Selection
– 12d. VSOP Liquid Gold and Fine Cognac ´R.D´
– 12e. Pale & Dry
– 12f. Napoléon
– 12g. Vesper
– 12h. Tres Vieux and Vineyard collection
– 12i. Extra
– 12j. Tres Vénérable
– 12k. Réserve de la Famille
– 12l. Other
13. Miniatures >5cl (up to half a bottle) and sets
14. Extravaganza
1. Pale & Dry (introduced by Jacques and Robert Delamain in 1920)
The Pale & Dry used to be called Très Vieille or Très Belle Grande Champagne. To make it clear to the public these bottles were aged quite a while – on average 25 years – , they added the XO a few years ago and dropped the Très Belle Grande Champagne. The colour of the bottles changed also, from green to clear.
Pale & Dry, Très Vieille Grande Champagne (Roullet & Delamain):
Pale & Dry, Très Belle Grande Champagne:
a. “Delamain & Co.” printed (some have Roullet & Delamain stated underneath):
b. “Delamain” printed wide (Delamain starting under ‘O’ of cognac and ends under ‘R’ of dry):
c. Delamain printed smaller (Delamain starting under ‘G’ of cognac and ends under ‘D’ of dry):
Pale & Dry, XO:
2. Vesper (introduced by Jean Delamain in 1953)
Vesper old type labels, fine (!) champagne
Vesper old type labels, grande champagne (1980s-mid 1990s)
Delamain on top of the label (ca. 1990 – mid 2000s)
Vesper new type labels (from around mid 2000s)
From 2019:
3. Sélection and Très Vieux Cognac (predecessor of the Très Vénérable)
4. Très Vénérable Cognac (introduced in 1976 by Noël Sauzey)
Dark green glass:
Light green glass:
Très Véneré, from 2019 on:
5. Extra
6. Réserve de la Famille and Ancestral
(Réserve de la Famille was introduced by Alain Braastad and Patrick Peyrelongue in 1984)
7. Vintages
Intro regarding the labels:
The main distinction is between bottles bottled and labelled by Delamain and early landed bottles labelled and bottled in the UK.
Bottled by Delamain:
Until the 1970s they predominantly used the “cellar label”. Vintages between 1845 and 1870 were in cognaçaise bottles, later vintages – until 1940 vintages – in Normandie bottles.
After WW-II they started using cognaçaise bottles, with the “cellar label” until 1995, the latest vintage being 1972.
In the 1960s and 1970s the “castle label” was also used. You can see them being used for vintages from 1878 until 1930, sometimes a cognaçaise bottle and sometimes a Normandie.
Then from the 1980’s they start using the emblem with the eagle on it. Vintages from 1935 until 1977. It was used until 2012/13 and then they switched to the bottles with the emblem on the glass and a smaller rectangular label. Vintages from 1963 until now.
Early landed:
Early landed vintages are all in cognaçaise bottles. The oldes early landed vintage dates from 1885. They have the “cellar label” until 1995, with the latest vintage being 1972. Thereafter they had the “alambic label” for vintages from 1969 till 1983.
Exceptions:
From 1955 till 1961 a different label have been used, with an emblem. They were early landed vintages 1906 and 1928.
And in 1992 and 1993 a label with a big eagle (vintages 1935, 1940 and 1960.), bottled by Delamain.
7a. Before 1900
7b. 1900-1940
7c. 1945-1969
7d. 1970 – 1979
7e. 1980 until now
8. Exceptions (not grande champagnes)
8a. three stars and other young cognacs
8b. Liquid Gold (VSOP; Liquid Gold was registered already in 1902, 30 years old cognac)
8c. Napoleon
8d. Fine Champagne cognacs
8e. Vintage exceptions (fine champagne and petite champagne)
9. Limited Editions
9.1 Pleiade
Pleiade, collection Apogée:
Pleiade, collection Plénitude:
Pleiade, collection Révélation:
Pleiade, other:
9.2 Single Vineyard editions:
9.3 Other editions:
10. Baccarat and other decanters
Pale & Dry
Vesper
Tres Vénérable Grande Champagne
Other
More information on the very expensive cristal bottles of Delamain on the Extravaganza page.
11. Magnums and more
Pale and Dry, old types
Delamain & Co.:
Delamain:
Pale and Dry, new types
Vesper:
Hotel series:
Last bottle is a Vesper. All other are Pale & Dry.
Vintages, Très vieux and Tres Venerable
12. Miniatures
– 12a. Three Star miniatures
– 12b. Finalo Special
– 12c. Selection
– 12d. VSOP Liquid Gold and Fine Cognac ´R.D´
– 12e. Pale and Dry
Pale & Dry, Très Belle Grande Champagne
Pale & Dry
Pale & Dry 4.5cl
Pale & Dry (XO), content unknown
Pale & Dry (XO), 3cl bottles
Pale & Dry (XO), 5cl bottles
– 12f. Napoléon
– 12g. Vesper
Vesper, content unknown
Vesper, 3cl bottles:
Vesper, 5cl bottles:
– 12h. Tres Vieux and single vineyard collection
– 12i. Extra
– 12j. Très Vénérable
– 12k. Réserve de la Famille
– 12l.Other
13. Miniatures >5cl and sets
— 20cl:
— 35cl:
— 50cl:
Christmas editions:
Single vinyard collection:
Pale & Dry:
— sets:
14. Extravaganza
The very expensive and extravagant bottles of Delamain have their own page, where there is room for a more extensive description of the bottles, notably the Delamain Voyage, the 1963 in a Daum crystal decanter and the Très Vénérable in a Daum crystal decanter.
Click on this link to see the Delamain Extravaganza page.
Morning team! Any thought’s on the bottling time period of this bottle?
700mL on left, 40% on right. To me it looks like the wide Delamain (starts under “o” and ends under “r”. Has filigree.
Thank you!
Probably around 1970s. But do you have any idea for which market (country) this bottle was made?
Thanks very much. I love your site and appreciate all the information and effort!
I am in Australia, but I am not sure where it was originally purchased. I will look for some more clues. If it was Australia would that change things?
Probably wouldn’t change anything. But I try to keep track of these things. Maybe if I gather enough information, a pattern emerges. For instance, in that period of time they used to place the content on the left side for that market. But it actually looks like it can differ almost for every batch they made.
I see, I will let you know if I see any other clues. A question for you in terms of taste, are there any major differences between older produced cognac and more modern? For instance, in Scotland the methods of heating have changed over time, leading to changes in flavour profile. Is there something like this in cognac? Perhaps vintages or grapes or something? It seems to me that there have not been many process changes, but I feel you may know of something.
The main process hasn’t changed much, that is correct. But there stille have been lots of small changes. And one big change, but that happened long ago: after the Phylloxera crisis, they started using a different grape variety. Whereas previously it was mainly Folle blanche, today more than 95% use Ugni blanc. Another important fact is that three-star cognacs and vsop cognacs from before say 1960 have usually aged much longer than those from after that time. I would certainly never drink a three-star (VS) cognac (I use it in cocktails or for cooking) and a VSOP is too young for me, too. But if it’s pre-1960, I’m sure it will be much better.
Next, there are have been many changes that improve quality. Different yeast strains, machine-picking instead of hand-picking, the way the cognac is filtered, the way the barrels are toasted, gas-fired boilers instead of wood-fired, which allows for much better temperature control and less incineration of the lees. Changes in the way the plants are pruned and other changes in vineyard maintenance. All these changes do have some impact on quality and taste. But for a layman, it is incredibly difficult to be able to know exactly which change leads to which flavour change.
I am here to leave something on your website as I always admire your efforts yet no other analogous work on Earth I suppose. My cabinet showcase is completed and basically I stop purchasing Cognacs due to multiple factors.
This is my Delamain collection and it takes up 3 compartments out of 14. I like this brand and time-point was stamped in May 2020.
Hi Murphy,
The other photo had a much better size, this one is rather small.
Delamain has always been one of my favorites, but nowadays I want to try new brands that I did not had before.
And to answer your question, I am retired now and the website indeed takes up a lot of time 🙂
Kind regards,
Ton
Hello!
This bottle is featured on this page and i bought it about a month ago. I am very curious about when this whas bottled. I haven’t seen this type of bottle for the tres vieux anywhere, only the gold label one from the 70’s and 80’s. It looks like it’s from the 50’s but i’m not shure. Anyway it’s gonna be a delight to drink when i turn 50 in five years.
Love your page and all the work you put in it.
Best wishes from Sweden.
Hello Morgan,
Thank you for the compliments.
I have only seen this bottle once and probably the precise one you have bought. I am not 100% sure when they were produced, but based on bottles with similar labels and the information from several auction sites during the years I think these are late 1960s to 1970s.
So maybe not from the 1950’s, but produced some 50 years ago. Maybe that will do too when you turn 50. 🙂
Kind regards,
Ton
Hallo Cognac Ton. Ik heb een fles Cognac : Delamain&Co Rouliet & Delamain R.D. Fine Cognac .
Kunt U mij misschien vertellen hoe oud de fles Cognac is ?
En wat hij eventueel waard is ?
Ik heb bij de afbeeldingen mijn fles niet gevonden. ( of ik heb niet goed gekeken )
Ik krijg de foto niet geupload, is er een andere manier ?
Met Dank , Groetjes Ronald.
Ik stuur wel een mailtje. Het gaat misschien makkelijker om foto´s per mail te sturen.
Ton