THE PRODUCTION OF COGNAC BRANDY. 433 



collecting the brandy into the shipping-houses in Cognac, and of the 

 treatment it receives therein. It is bought up from the distillers by 

 commission-merchants, or shippers, who have large storehouses, sup- 

 plied with facilities for filtering, mixing, ageing, etc. The two 

 largest houses in the trade are those of the celebrated English firms, 

 Martel & Co. and Hennessy & Co. ; next to these are Otard, Dupuy 

 & Co., and Augier Freres, the oldest house in Cognac ; and besides 

 these are many smaller ones. The farmers generally sell their spirit 

 while it is new, or immediately after distillation. In the second year 

 it is classed " stale," and in the fourth " old." On its arrival at the 

 magazine it is tested by a sampler, to see that it corresponds with 

 the representations made for it. It is measured in large depotoirs, 

 about 265 gallons capacity, which have glass tubes on the outside to 

 indicate the quantity of spirit within. This is said to give a fairer 

 measurement than smaller vessels. The price depends on the strength. 

 For the English market this is classed at 58 of Gay Lussac's scale, 

 or about 1 above English proof. For the French market it is 60, 

 and for the American 61. It may as well be stated in this connec- 

 tion that England takes nearly the whole supply her portion in 1875 

 amounting to 4,500,000 gallons. A small part is consumed in France, 

 and other small parts go direct to the north of Europe, South Amer- 

 ica, and the United States. 



Sales of spirits are based on the French scale or 60. For each 

 degree above that standard the shipper pays the producer 5 per cent, 

 extra; while for each degree under he deducts 10 percent. After 

 measurement the spirit is placed in new oaken casks, of the proper 

 seasoning, and its age, quality, and origin, are indicated thereon. The 

 casks are stored in a series of chambers threaded with tramways for 

 moving them about ; and in a vast gallery, beneath, stand long rows 

 of conical-shaped colossal white vats, each more than twelve feet high 

 and nine feet in diameter at its base. These are for use in mixing. 

 By mixing, the peculiarities of the different varieties of spirit are 

 blended, and so the "brands" are multiplied. In this process the 

 various kinds are emptied, first, into a copper-plated trough on the 

 floor above the vats, and at the same time passed through a filter ot 

 flannel; then it is drawn off into the vat below, passing in its course 

 through a second filter of white blotting-paper, surrotmded by flan- 

 nel. In the vats it is stirred by paddles in some houses worked by 

 hand and in others by machinery. This completes the mixing, and 

 the spirit is drawn oif into casks or bottles and stored for shipment. 

 A part of the alcohol, estimated at 7 to 10 per cent., is lost by evap- 

 oration in the first year of ageing, and a considerably smaller part in 

 subsequent years. The visible effect of this evaporation is displayed 

 in the carbonized appearance of the walls and roofs of the older stone 

 houses a sootiness which the stranger is sure to attribute to the 

 smoke of the distilleries, of which, however, there are none in Cognac. 

 vol. x. 28 



