Bache Gabrielsen

A family-owned Cognac house based in the town of Cognac in France's Charente region, producing and marketing cognac under its own name since 1905. The Maison traces its origins to Norway, where Josef Alexander Gabrielsen and Kamilla Bache opened a spirits shop in 1877 and passed their trade to their son Thomas Bache-Gabrielsen. Sent to France in 1903 to develop the family business, Thomas settled in Cognac and in 1905, with his Norwegian partner Peter Rustad, acquired Maison A. Edmond Dupuy, a cognac house founded in 1852 - the transaction from which the current house dates its founding. Four generations of the family have since led the business: Rene took over in 1932 and steered it through the Depression and the Second World War; his son Christian assumed control in 1968 and drove international expansion over some twenty-five years before passing the reins to his eldest son Herve in 2009, remaining as President of the Supervisory Board. Cellar work has been directed since 1989 by cellar master Jean-Philippe Bergier, himself from a Petite Champagne family of growers and distillers and the owner of an estate near Brives; trained at the specialist spirits university at Segonzac, he selects eaux-de-vie, oversees their ageing in cask, creates the blends and maintains the consistency of the house's signature cognacs, and sits on the tasting jury of the BNIC, the Cognac regulatory body. The range spans a core collection plus limited-edition bottlings, including the 100th-anniversary TRIBUTE release drawn from an 1860 cognac and limited to 500 bottles. Beyond bottled product, the house offers a private cognac cask programme allowing customers to commission a personalised cognac, publishes cocktail recipes and cognac education content, sells direct to consumers through an online shop, and receives visitors for tastings and experiences at its site in Cognac. The company states it is B Corp certified. Its market reach is strongly international with deep roots in Scandinavia, where longstanding Norwegian and Swedish supporter clubs hold an annual gathering and travel to Cognac every ten years; the house celebrated its centenary in 2005 with four days of festivities and 350 guests. Stated brand values are bold, authentic and savoir-faire, and the house positions itself around exploring the many facets of cognac to create new sensory experiences.