Pale & Dry is bright amber in color, with hints of gold. On the palate it has floral and spice aromas giving way to woody herbs, raisins and other dried fruits, vanilla and a hint of licorice.
Delamain & Co. holds the most distinguished range of brandy in Cognac. The portfolio begins with the Pale and Dry XO, matured for more than three times the required aging period for the category, and ends with the Le Voyage, an irreplaceable blend of extremely old stocks; this is history in a bottle. Delamain’s reserves of eau-de-vie are sourced entirely from Grande Champagne, the highest quality, most complex and longest lived of the crus, and are matured in their riverbank cellars which ensure the perfect and unique aging that has made the Cognacs of Delamain coveted by collectors and critics alike.
The Delamain Name
The Delamain name can be traced back to Cognac in 1625 when Nicolas Delamain, a Huguenot from Saintonge, relocated to England to evade religious persecution. He became the protégé of the Duke of Buckingham and was knighted by Charles I in 1639. He received the Delamain coat of arms, an eagle rising atop a gold shield depicting three bloody crosses, which is still represented on every bottle of his family’s Cognac.
The Beginning of a Family Trade
Six generations of Delamains remained in Great Britain until James Delamain returned to Jarnac in 1759 at age 21. He began working for a Cognac négociant named Issac Ranson, selling to the Irish market on commission. James eventually married Ranson’s only daughter in 1762, which was enough to become a partner and successor to his business, now called Ranson & Delamain. After James’ death in 1800, the laws of inheritance created a controversy among his seven children as well as his sons-in-law which proved insurmountable, and the firm was liquidated by 1817.