1990s Vintages

Two terms matter on this page. A single vintage comes from one year's harvest. A single cask comes from one barrel, which is how the St James rhums and the Finn Thomson Scotch are bottled. François Voyer's Lot 93 is a Grande Champagne Cognac released under its lot number.

The Armagnac comes from several parts of Gascony. Delord, Château de Laubade and Domaine Tariquet are Bas Armagnac houses. Darroze, at Roquefort in the Landes, bottles single estates by year, and its La Boubée 1991 comes from Ténarèze, the middle district, on heavier clay and limestone. Browse them all in our Armagnac collection.

The Calvados comes from Christian Drouin, in the Pays d'Auge in Normandy, with more in our Calvados collection. Cognac comes from François Voyer and Paul Giraud. Longmorn 1991 from Finn Thomson carries a Scotch single cask into the same decade.

People born in 1996 turn 30 in 2026, and the Christian Drouin 1996 is a straightforward match for that year. For other years, read the label, because the years here change.

Our guide to birth year spirits covers the basics. You can also see the full vintage range or move on to the 2000s.

History

Delord reached its centenary in 1993, a hundred years after Prosper Delord set out in 1893 with his travelling still. The Delord 1993 comes from that centenary year.

Christian Drouin moved production in 1991 and 1992 to a 17th-century farm at Coudray-Rabut, near Pont-l'Évêque. The Drouin vintages from this decade reflect the house habit of using reused casks: Sauternes for the 1993, Banyuls for the 1996, both alongside Calvados casks.

Domaine Tariquet's Armagnac is first recorded in 1683, and the Artaud family bought the estate in 1912. Its 1994 is 60% Ugni Blanc and 40% Baco, at 45.5%.

Darroze holds that the balance of fruit, tannin and alcohol only arrives after 15 years in oak, and it states the bottling date so buyers can check. Its collection draws on about 30 estates, including Pouteou and Rieston.

François Voyer has distilled and aged in oak since the 1870s, from vines at Verrières in Grande Champagne.

St James bottled its 1997 single cask to mark 20 years of the AOC Martinique, after an unusually dry season. Its 1999 was aged for ten years.

Finn Thomson launched in 2022. Its Longmorn was distilled on 30 April 1991 and bottled in August 2025, after 34 years in ex-bourbon oak and a PX sherry cask.

How to drink it

These spirits are younger than the older decades in our range, and several are stronger, so strength is the first thing to check on the label.

Start with about 30ml, neat, at room temperature, in a tulip glass. Keep ice out of the first pour, and taste before you dilute anything.

The bottles at 40%, such as the Delord and Laubade vintages, generally need nothing added. Stronger bottlings are different. The Darroze estates mostly sit between 48% and 50%, the Finn Thomson Longmorn 1991 is 53.7% and François Voyer's Lot 93 is 53.6%. Water helps here: add it slowly, tasting as you go, until the alcohol steps back and the aroma comes forward.

Our Darroze notes suggest neat, at room temperature, in a tulip glass, and the La Boubée 1991 after dinner. Tastings at the Drouin distillery serve Calvados with Normandy cheeses. Our Darroze notes also suggest duck, cheese or dark chocolate.

St James rhums reward the same treatment as the brandies: a small measure, no ice at first, time in the glass. The tasting notes for the 1999 run to roasted coffee, chocolate and nutmeg.