Review: Sazerac de Forge Cognac – XO, Vintage 2000, and 50 Years Old

Back in 2022, Sazerac launched a Cognac and named it for itself: Sazerac de Forge. Well, actually the brand had been launched about 250 years prior, so this was bringing the OG Sazerac back to life.

Unfortunately, the 2022 “Finest Original” Sazerac de Forge was a bit lackluster, a clearly youthful blend with eaux de vie as young as 7 years of age in the mix — essentially a VSOP, but priced in line with some of the most expensive bottles on the general market.

Since then, Sazerac has rethought the brand, pulled the plug on “Finest Original” and come back to market with three new Sazerac de Forge releases, the youngest bearing a true XO age statement (meaning the minimum age of all the brandy in the bottle is 10 years old) and a lower abv. As well, Sazerac de Forge arrives with single vintage release from the year 2000, and a very rare 50 year old bottling.

We got to try all of these in preview at Tales of the Cocktail in 2025. Finally they are hitting the market in earnest and we have had a chance to dig into them more deeply at Drinkhacker HQ. Thoughts follow.

Sazerac de Forge Cognac XO Review

Billed as a “two-decade-plus blend with natural color” this presents on the nose as quite sweet and fruit-forward, layers of orange cream infused with notes of lilac and lavender. Chocolate, caramel, and vanilla all pop immediately on the palate, and the longer it sits in glass, the more immersive these notes become. It’s an exuberant, complex, and quite engaging spirit, drinking with lovely notes of citrus, apple, and golden raisin, before fading out gently, with gossamer licks of clean linen and a pinch of lime. Versatile and always a delight, this is as solid an “entry-level” Cognac as you’ll find anywhere. 86 proof. A- / $150

Sazerac de Forge Cognac Grande Champagne Vintage 2000 Review

Celebrate the millennium with this single harvest release made from Grande Champagne fruit. Soft and fruit-forward, the brandy is creamy and lush with notes of apple butter on the nose, balanced by a healthy lavender-linen quality that adds a bracing, tempering quality to the aromatic profile. The palate is light as a feather, the florals gently ceding ground for an applesauce-fueled body that meanders into cinnamon and nutmeg, then back to white and purple florals, lightly raisiny and chocolaty as the finish builds. There’s a lip-smacking fruitiness here that lingers well into the finish, with exotic hints of incense, coconut, and beeswax spicing things up. Immersive but very refreshing. 89.6 proof. A- / $450

Sazerac de Forge Cognac 50 Years Old Review

This is a blend of three vintages — 1970, 1971, and 1974 — blended and bottled as a 50 year old offering. Brandies at this age can often come across as extremely gentle and austere, and this 50 year old is no exception. The fruit has largely evaporated from the nose, leaving behind an intense floral quality that is heavy with jasmine, rose, and mixed potpourri. The palate similarly remains intensely flowery and perfumed — and quite drying from start to finish, almost dusty at times. The essence of Ugni Blanc grapes is fully on display here, an unmistakable trip through fields of late summer flowers, tempered just so by notes of almond paste, brown butter, and vanilla. Camphor lingers on the finish, but in a cleansing way. To be sure, this Cognac is probably past its prime, with its best features unfortunately lost to time. As a minuscule time capsule, it remains highly worth sampling, however. 86 proof. B+ / $4000

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