1960s Vintages

Every bottle here is sold by a named year in the 1960s. The year tells you the harvest. It does not tell you how long the spirit stayed in wood, so look for a bottling date as well where the label gives one.

Searches for 1960 alcohol lead to two bottles on this page: the Castarède 1960 and the Comte de Lamaestre 1960. For 1966 alcohol, which marks a 60th in 2026, read the year on each label, because the years here change. If it is a 1966 cognac you want, check before you settle: the Cognac on this page comes from Grosperrin, in the years shown on each bottle, so a neighbouring year may be the closer match.

Most of the page is Bas Armagnac from Gascony. Delord distils at Lannepax in the Gers, and its range is laid out in the Delord vintage collection. Castarède, Darroze, Comte de Lamaestre, Château de Laubade and Domaine de Joÿ make up the rest. Our article on Armagnac explains the region.

The Cognac comes from Grosperrin, with more houses in our Cognac collection. For earlier years, try pre-1960 vintages. For later ones, try the 1970s.

History

Delord's story starts in 1893 with Prosper Delord and his travelling still. Jacques Delord took over the house in 1963, early in this decade. The family's old Sier stills, which it describes as producing less than 30 litres of spirit an hour, are still in use, and its oldest vintages rest in glass demijohns, out of the light, in a cellar room called Paradise. The Delord 1968 was made from Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, Baco and Colombard, each harvested and pressed separately.

Castarède dates from 1832. Its 1960 was bottled in 2019, after almost six decades in oak.

The Comte de Lamaestre 1967 is made from Ugni Blanc, Baco 22A and Colombard. The Darroze Serrade 1965 is bottled at 48%.

Château de Laubade was built in 1870, and vintage bottling was revived there by Maurice Lesgourgues in 1974. Its oldest vintages mature for about 50 years in barrel before moving to demijohns in a small cellar known as the Paradis, and they go out in 500ml bottles.

The Grosperrin 1969 has an unusual past. A notary in Cognac bought this Petite Champagne lot in April 1970, and it stayed in his family's estate for decades before Grosperrin bottled it. It took a gold medal at the Cognac Masters in London in 2015.

How to drink it

Serve these simply. Pour about 30ml, neat, at room temperature, in a tulip glass. Leave ice out of the first pour.

Wait before you taste. Our note on the Darroze Serrade 1965 recommends it neat at room temperature, and a few minutes in the glass gives an old spirit a chance to open.

Strength is a useful guide. Delord, Castarède and Comte de Lamaestre sit at 40%, so they rarely need anything added. The Darroze Serrade 1965 is 48% and the Grosperrin 1969 is 46.4%. Taste those neat first, and if the alcohol stands in the way of the aroma, add a little water and taste again.

For the table, Delord's notes name a chocolate dessert or a tangy arabica coffee beside its older Armagnacs. The tasting note for the Delord 1962 mentions candied prune and apricot with cocoa alongside.

Opening a bottle for a 60th? A small pour per person goes a long way, and a bottle with a 1960s year can be shared around a table and then kept for later.