by Andrew Chalk
From the front label of The House of CAMUS’ new releases:
The CAMUS Philosophy
• We value independence in a world dominated by standardization.
• We celebrate a living tradition five generations strong.
• We create cognacs which reflect the best from our terroir.
• We always seek the exceptional and are absolutely passionate about taste.
That quartet of commitments immediately grabbed my attention. No attempt there to slather a bromide of mass market acceptability over what CAMUS is about. Here is a brandy to try that you might like, or you might not. But you will neither forget nor confuse its aromas, bouquet, and intensity with other brandies. It is made by the last of the internationally distributed family-owned Cognac houses in the Cognac region of France, founded in 1863.
Their new range of Cognacs, released under the moniker An Instant of Intensity, are made from grapes from the family estate in the Borderies area of the Charente-Maritime. They are blended for maximum intensity by adding back the ‘heads’ of the distillation to the lees for ageing. This distinctive new expression is available now as CAMUS VERY SPECIAL, VSOP, and XO.