Drink of the Week: Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac

Before the dark days of Prohibition, Cognac was considered a choice spirit for cocktails, and today’s Drink of the Week—Pierre Ferrand’s 1840 Original Formula Cognac—helps reclaim the French distillate’s place in the world of mixed drinks. Using a rare bottle of Pinet Castillion from 1840 as inspiration, distiller Alexandre Gabriel, together with cocktail historian and Imbibe columnist David Wondrich, developed this cocktail-driven Cognac, as an homage to what Harry Johnson and Jerry Thomas would have mixed in their drinks. Making its U.S. debut in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail later this month, and rolling out nationwide on August 1, Pierre Ferrand’s 1840 Original Formula Cognac is rich and voluptuous with layers of stone fruit, flowers and tea-like tannins. It’s the ideal mixing candidate for classic Juleps and Crustas, or for the Jackson Punch, a Jerry Thomas original adapted by Wondrich. Click here for the recipe. $45/750 ml., pierreferrandcognac.com