Armagnac with an American accent

After the Dutch stimulated the growth in Armagnac during the 17th century, it was the Americans who, through a fortunate combination of historic events, that further increased its development on an international scale.

The Dutch were the first to circumvent the English monopoly on Bordeaux wines by investing in Armagnac to ensure a continuous and quality supply.

A century later, Armagnac further continued its conquest of the world by crossing the Atlantic to North America.  It was thanks to the English, or rather in spite of them, that Armagnac gained in popularity there.

In fact, the end of the 18th century was marked by the deadly confrontation between the English and the settlers in North America as 1775 was the beginning of the American War of Independence (1775-1783).

Suffocated by insane taxes and tired of the undue influence and privileges that the British authorities accorded themselves, the Americans suddenly decided to declare war and deadly combat ensued.

On the battlefields, the American soldiers took comfort at the bottom of a bottle of eau-de-vie.  Though what was in these bottles ?  Neither Whisky or Cognac, the favourite spirits of their enemies, would be fit to fill these necessary bottles in the field.  Out of the question to swallow a single drop !

They therefore set their sights on Armagnac, that the Dutch had helped to boost and continued to improve its production.  A fortunate choice, as at the end of the war in 1783, the Americans finally obtained their independence.  In Armagnac, we like to believe that it was for good reason !