Pierre Ferrand
The Grande Champagne cognac house founded in 1989 (and rooted in older family distilling traditions) that has, more than any other modern brand, made craft cognac and craft curaçao available to the contemporary cocktail world. The Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula cognac and the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao are working-bar essentials.
Pierre Ferrand is the modern cognac brand that has done the most to make Grande Champagne cognac and craft curaçao available to the contemporary cocktail revival. Founded in 1989 by Alexandre Gabriel—a Cognac-region-born entrepreneur who has since built Maison Ferrand into one of the most cocktail-engaged independent spirits operations—the brand is rooted in older Ferrand family distilling traditions but operates as a fundamentally modern revival-era project. The portfolio spans cognacs, curaçaos, gins (Citadelle), and rums (Planteray, profiled separately).
The flagship cognac is the 1840 Original Formula—a Grande Champagne-region cognac bottled at the higher 45% ABV that 19th-century cognacs typically reached, deliberately formulated to perform in cocktails the way pre-Prohibition American bartenders would have known the spirit. Modern cognac is usually bottled at 40% and aimed at neat sipping; the 1840 brings cocktail-grade proof and a more aggressive character that holds up in stirred-and-spirituous builds (Sazerac, Vieux Carré, Sidecar). For Scorpion and any exotic-cocktail recipe specifying VS cognac or VSOP cognac at cocktail-grade proof, the 1840 is the canonical choice.
The Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is the other working-bar essential from the portfolio. Crafted in 2012 with input from David Wondrich (the cocktail historian who profiled the brand’s research on 19th-century curaçao formulations), the Dry Curaçao reconstructs a pre-Prohibition orange-liqueur style that Cointreau and the broader triple-sec category had effectively replaced. The result is drier than modern triple sec, more complex on the orange-and-spice axis, and meaningfully better in cocktails that benefit from orange-liqueur depth (Mai Tai, where the curaçao is one of the four key flavor pillars; Sidecar; classic Margarita). For a serious Mai Tai program, the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is the bottle that replaces Cointreau.
The Grande Champagne designation matters. Within the Cognac region’s six-sub-region geographical hierarchy (Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois, Bois Ordinaires), Grande Champagne is the highest-rated terroir for cognac production—chalky soils, longer-aging-friendly grapes (Ugni Blanc primarily), and longer barrel-aging traditions. Pierre Ferrand’s cognacs are sourced entirely from Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne grapes, with the 1840 specifically being a Grande Champagne blend.
The broader Maison Ferrand portfolio is worth knowing. Citadelle gin is the company’s gin brand—a French London-Dry-style gin distilled at the same Cognac-region operation. Planteray rum (formerly Plantation) is their rum portfolio, with finishing-in-cognac-cask techniques borrowed from the cognac side. The cross-pollination between rum and cognac production at the Maison Ferrand operation has produced some of the most cocktail-credible products in any of those categories.
Where to buy: Well-stocked specialty retailers, Total Wine, K&L Wines. Online availability through specialty retailers is consistent.