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There are many Cognac producers that encompass several different labels all under the same ownership. Domaines Francis Abécassis is one of those producers. Under his watchful eye, and with the help of many talented individuals on his team, Francis Abécassis has several different Cognac labels in his portfolio. They are Leyrat, Réviseur, and ABK6, which is a homonym of his last name. When pronounced in French, it’s ah-bay-cassis. It could also be considered an SMS message, or short hand for his last name. Also there are the lesser-known Grands Domaines and Double Crown brands. They aim to make more cost affordable expressions to try to reach as many consumers as possible. All of these labels are very new to the Cognac market, being created in the early 2000’s.
Francis Abécassis was formerly a wine producer in the South of France. Unfortunately, he was forced to sell all of his vineyards. Instead of walking away from viticulture, he decided to use his wine knowledge and business acumen in a different way. Abécassis wanted to develop a Cognac brand based off of something you usually see in wine production. The term is single estate. The idea is that everything is handled 100% by the producer themselves. Everything from growing the grapes all the way to the bottling line.
An ‘estate’ is vague in size, however, and could be anywhere from 10 hectares up to 300 and anything in between. It’s just a more hands-on approach of making eaux-de-vie. When compared to a house like Hennessy, whom doesn’t distill themselves and blends from all over multiple crus, it’s very different. A single estate Cognac gets up close and personal with each step along the way. They can even focus on just one or a small handful of specific locations within a cru.
At its inception, Abécassis was working with a gentleman named Simon Palmer from New Zealand. He was a professor at the Cognac University in Ségonzac. He was the Maître de Chai initially, while Abécassis handled many other areas of the production process. All of the labels created within Domaines Francis Abécassis are blended and finalized by their Maître de Chai. As of 2019, that individual is Isabelle Couprie, whom joined the company after a long stint at Gautier. She is one of very few females in the Cognac world, especially with the Maître de Chai title. Her role is integral in creating different flavor profiles for not one, but all five different labels. Another important member of the company is the daughter of Francis Abécassis, Élodie. Presently, she is the CEO of the company. She has helped to bring a more youthful and modern approach to their Cognac.
Abécassis uses three main locations in the Cognac region. Each are equipped with their own separate distillery and Master Distiller. He started by first purchasing the Réviseur vineyards in 2001. That included its warehouses and aged stocks. Then the Leyrat brand name, vineyards, and cellars were next to be purchased. Leyrat already had a long history in the region being there for over a century. In 2005, he finally created his own personal brand name of Cognac and called it ABK6. The total amount of land owned by Abécassis is staggering. Currently, he has around 370 hectares (915 acres) and is one of the largest independent producers of Cognac today. All of the different Cognac’s under this brand use Ugni Blanc grapes exclusively and Limousin oak for aging.
Réviseur and Double Crown are made in Petite Champagne at Maine Drilhon just west of the city Barbezieux. It has a size of 90 hectares (220 acres) with vineyards that face east to west. This is ideal for sun exposure and is said to produce highly aromatic eau-de-vie. Leyrat is located at Chez Maillard in Fins Bois just southwest of Angoulême. It’s a bit east from the Petite Champagne border in the town of Claix. It has roughly 92 hectares (228 acres) of vines, but sits on top of a hill which has very chalky soil and gets lots of direct sunlight. It’s said to be a very in demand area of Fins Bois as it creates elegant and high quality eaux-de-vie similar to some Grande and Petite Champagne’s.
There are two other locations, both in Grande Champagne. One of them being Domaine du Dizedon, which is right on the border of Grande Champagne and Borderies. Its size is approximately 30 hectares (75 acres). The ABK6 and Grands Domaines labels are both blends of all of the three different vineyards/crus owned by the company.
Starting in 2021, they will be releasing a new line of ABK6 that is 100% Grande Champagne. It will still be under the ABK6 label, but with different packaging. As noted, Domaines Francis Abécassis handles the entire production process including vineyards, wine, distillation, aging, and bottling. They use sustainable growing methods throughout their properties and harvest only small plots at a time. Immediately pressing the grapes helps to retain the maximum amount of freshness. All of their Alembic stills are 25 hL or smaller. That causes them to have to distill a higher number of batches, but have more exact control over the eaux-de-vie. There are just over 20 cellars owned by the company holding somewhere around 3,200 casks.
Leyrat has a very traditional bottle design. But it’s Réviseur and, more specifically, ABK6 that really show a focus on fresh, new ideas with their modern bottles and labeling. It has definitely shaken up the stuffy stereotype of Cognac while trying to attract a younger crowd to the very old spirit. With that in mind, ABK6 has several unique products like ABK6 Ice (a Cognac meant to be consumed with ice), an orange cinnamon liqueur, and a honey liqueur made with real honey from a bee farmer in close proximity to Chez Maillard in Fins Bois. There is no artificial flavoring and the liqueur is a mix of 87% Cognac and 13% real chestnut honey.
