Bestsellers

Most loved Cognac liqueurs

The bottles our customers reach for most often.

The definition

What actually makes it a liqueur

The category is defined by sugar, not by the base spirit.

The collection

The Grand Marnier cuvées

The range is best read through one number: how much Cognac is in the bottle. See the full Grand Marnier range.

The classic

Orange liqueurs

Bitter orange and Cognac is the region's signature pairing, and nearly every house has its own reading of it.

Orchard and hedgerow

Pear, cherry and berry

Pear is the great Charentais alternative to orange. Maison Brillet uses roughly eighteen pears for every 700 ml bottle.

After dinner

Coffee, honey, cocoa and cream

The after-dinner end of the category, where Cognac meets roasted, sweet and creamy flavours. Serve these the coldest of all.

Beyond Grand Marnier

The other houses of the region

Only a handful of Charente houses make liqueurs, and several of them use Cognac deliberately as a carrier and a structural backbone.

Serving

How to drink them

These are liqueurs first, and liqueurs are drunk cold. Keep the bottle in the fridge, and the sweeter and creamier ones in the freezer if you have room. Pour into a small glass straight from the cold, or over plenty of ice. The chill holds the sugar back and keeps the fruit and the peel sharp. At room temperature the same liqueur reads heavy and syrupy.

Cream, coffee and chocolate bottlings want the most chill of all. Citrus and fruit liqueurs also work long: ice, a tall glass and a splash of sparkling water or tonic.

The cocktail side is where the orange liqueurs earn their reputation. They were the original curaçao in a great many classics, and swapping a plain triple sec for a Cognac-based liqueur adds weight and length.

Pineau des Charentes, if you have a bottle alongside, is a different proposition again: served chilled as an aperitif, and very good with light seafood or a soft cheese.

From the archive

A century of Grand Marnier advertising

Three pieces from the poster and magazine archive, from the 1889 Exposition Universelle to the American press campaigns of the late twentieth century.

The label archive

Vintage liqueur labels

Original printer's labels from the liqueur houses of Cognac and the Charente, alongside the great French distilleries whose branch networks reached into Cognac itself. Blackberry, guignolet, crème de cacao, kirsch, prunelle, peppermint: a reminder of how broad the output once was.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

Keep exploring

More from the Charente

The same eaux-de-vie that go into these liqueurs are bottled on their own too. Follow the thread back to the Cognac itself, or sideways into the region's fortified wine.

The full cellar

Browse every Cognac liqueur

Every Cognac liqueur we can sell you right now, across the whole category. Sort it below, or use the filters on the category list for brand, flavour and price.