Tesseron Lot 53

Tesseron is a grower / producer located in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente, which is part of the Grande Champagne region. They began producing cognac in 1905 and the distiller has been family owned for generations; Alfred and Melanie Tesseron currently oversee the brand. The cellar used by Tesseron dates back to the 13th century and originally operated as crypt for a local church! I’ll spare you any campy “spirits” puns. Until 2003, Tesseron was a wholesaler to the large cognac houses and a their cognac ended up in many prestigious large house bottlings. In 2003, Tesseron broke away from the wholesale business and started independently bottling and selling their cognac. 

Tesseron's cognac spends up to 75 years in oak, solely in Limousin oak. The crypt/cellar is a humid cellar which causes the angels to extract more alcohol than water. After 75 years (and perhaps sometimes prior), Tesseron transfers their cognac to demijohns in the Paradis cellar. Some of the cognacs in Tesseron’s cellar have not been reduced with water while resting in the cask.

Tesseron only bottles XO cognac. It appears that for some time, the BNIC prohibited the use of “vintages” on cognac so Tesseron labeled their cognac with “lot” followed by a number to indicate the age of the cognac bottled. I’m guessing that the BNIC revised the regulations regarding the use of “vintage” (which is now allowed) but Tesseron continued labeling their cognac with “lot” for marketing continuity.

Ungi Blanc is mainly used to make Tesseron's cognac, but they also incorporates a small portion of Folle Blanche and Colombard. Some of the grapes are grown on the estate (they own two very well-regarded wine vinyards, Château Pontet-Canet and Château Lafon-Rochet) and some are sourced from other vineyards in Grande Champagne and Petit Champagne.

Tesseron states that the use of Limosin oak (less tannins) along with aging in humid cellars (which causes more alcohol to evaporate and lowers the abv naturally) lends itself to long-term aging.

This review covers the Tesseron Lot 53, a bottle that I split with Ryan.

Nose: orange flavored milk chocolate candies, fig newtons, sweet tobacco, light nuttiness
Palate: light and airy…apricots, toffee, coconut chips, some baking spices and a light floral quality in the background
Finish: longer than short but shorter than long (if that makes sense?!?!)

Final thoughts: this is a good cognac. It shows no flaws in flavor and I don’t think it would offend any palate. With that said, its light…like, really light. It’s the type of drink you want to start off the night with and not end with, and I could see this getting drowned out at a tasting. If this was bottled at 46%, or even 43% (that is, if the abv is still that high after 50+ years in oak), this would be top tier cognac. But ultimately it suffers from the low proof. I think a whisky drinker would enjoy this…but I also think they would also want more oomph.

I chased the Tesseron Lot 53 with some of the Binny’s Maison Park Borderies for comparison. While the Maison Park tasted younger and less complex than the Tesseron, it had a stronger overall flavor profile. To me, they balanced out and I couldn’t recommend one over the other. So, with that in mind, I’m giving the Tesseron a B+.

Grade: B Plus 

Source

http://vintuswines.com/estates/cognac_tesseron