Bache-Gabrielsen Aquavit
Cognac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
- ABV
- 42%
- Base spirit
- Wheat
- Color
- Clear
- Style
- Unaged Aquavit
Bache-Gabrielsen Aquavit is a French aquavit created in Cognac by Maison Bache-Gabrielsen in collaboration with Audemus Spirits. It was introduced in January 2019 as the second release in Bache-Gabrielsen’s experimental DistillationS range, following a whisky released in 2017. At the time of its launch, it was presented as what was believed to be the first aquavit produced in Cognac. The aquavit is bottled at 42% ABV in a 700 ml format.
Its production combines two separately distilled components. The main distillate is made in a traditional Cognac pot still with caraway, coriander, fennel, green anise and orange blossom. A second distillate, based on angelica, is produced under vacuum at Audemus Spirits, allowing the botanical to be distilled at lower temperature. The two components are subsequently rested and blended. The spirit itself is based on wheat grain.
The project was developed under the direction of Bache-Gabrielsen cellar master Jean-Philippe Bergier, with Miko Abouaf, founder of Audemus Spirits, responsible for translating the concept into the final distillates. Contemporary descriptions identify caraway and coriander as the structural core of the recipe, with fennel and anise contributing softer spice notes and vacuum-distilled angelica providing the lighter floral component.
Later in 2019, Bache-Gabrielsen expanded the project into a two-expression range consisting of a clear Aquavit and an Aged Aquavit. The pair was introduced in travel retail through Gebr. Heinemann from September 2019. The clear expression remains listed by Bache-Gabrielsen as part of its spirits collection.
Bottle gallery
About the producer
Bache-Gabrielsen
Cognac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Maison Bache-Gabrielsen was founded in Cognac in 1905 by Norwegian Thomas Bache-Gabrielsen together with his compatriot Peter Anton Rustad. The two acquired the existing Cognac house A. Edmond Dupuy, which dated from 1852, and developed the business with particularly strong connections to Scandinavian markets. Thomas settled permanently in Cognac after marrying Odette in 1906, and the company subsequently remained under family control through four generations.
Thomas was followed in the business by his son René Bache-Gabrielsen, and later by his grandson Christian. The fourth generation is represented by Hervé Bache-Gabrielsen, who took over management of the house in 2009. Jean-Philippe Bergier has served as cellar master since 1989, overseeing the selection, maturation and blending of the house’s spirits and playing a central role in the development of its more experimental releases.
Bache-Gabrielsen operates principally as a Cognac trading and ageing house, sourcing eaux-de-vie from winegrower-distillers and handling selection, maturation and blending within the house. Additional ageing and blending cellars were established at Louzac-Saint-André in 2015. Alongside Cognac and Pineau des Charentes, the company has increasingly worked with other spirit categories; the DistillationS project began with whisky in 2017 and was followed by the Audemus collaboration for aquavit in 2019, explicitly connecting the house’s French production with its Norwegian origins.
