(The cellar · 28 Sep 2026)
What the angels take
Every year, two per cent of every cask evaporates into the cellar air. In Cognac, they call it la part des anges.
A cask of cognac breathes. Through the oak, a little alcohol and water escape every year — about two per cent of the volume.
Over twenty years, a cask loses around a third of what was put in. Over fifty, more than half.
The vapour feeds a black fungus, Baudoinia, that covers the walls and roofs of every cellar in Cognac.
“We lose the equivalent of twenty million bottles a year in Cognac. The angels are very well looked after.”
Damp cellars by the river lose more alcohol than water, and the cognac grows softer. Dry cellars do the opposite.
Our cellars sit on both banks of the Charente, so the cellar master can choose how each cask will age.
What remains is concentrated, darker, and very much more expensive. Thank the angels.
