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In the nineteenth century, when the art of the cocktail as we know
it first came together, Cognac-based cocktails were popular. They
included sours, punches, daisies and a dozen others. Even the mighty
mint julep, now made almost exclusively with bourbon whiskey, was
then primarily a Cognac drink.
The preferred style of Cognac was known as “three
star,” young enough to be lively and, affordable, yet darker
and richer in flavor and higher in proof than VS Cognacs of today.
Over the years, this style fell by the wayside along with Cognac
cocktails in general.
Pierre Ferrand Cognac 1840 Original Formula, a
revival of the classic mixable three-star Cognac, was created by
Cognac Ferrand president Alexandre Gabriel with help from cocktail historian
David Wondrich after
extensive tasting and evaluation of surviving examples of three-star
Cognac going back to the early nineteenth century. The final blend
is closely modeled on a rare and well-preserved bottle of Pinet-Castillon Cognac from 1840,
a generation and more before the phylloxera
 louse devastated the
vineyards of Cognac.
Pierre Ferrand Cognac 1840 Original Formula is bottled at 45 percent
alcohol by volume (90 proof) and is much stronger than the rest of
the Pierre Ferrand range, which is bottled at 80 proof.
Beginning in July, more
than 35 restaurants and bars in New Orleans will feature cocktails
made with 1840
Original Formula, including the famed Carousel Bar at the
Hotel Monteleone, the home of Tales of the Cocktail The Carousel Bar
will feature a pair of 1840 Original Formula.
These recipes from the dawn of the Cocktail age were curated by Dr.
Wondrich.
The Chanticleer
Source: New York Sunday Mercury via New Orleans Daily
Picayune, 1843;
adapted by David Wondrich
 Put 1 barspoon/5 ml superfine or caster sugar in a small tumbler
Add 1 barspoon/5 ml water and stir to dissolve sugar
Add 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters or The Bitter Truth Creole Bitters
Add 1 dash absinthe
Add 2 ounces/60 ml Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula
Fill glass with cracked ice and stir. Twist lemon peel over the top
and serve.
Original Cognac Cocktail
Adapted by David Wondrich from Jerry Thomas, Bar-Tenders’ Guide,
1862
 In a mixing glass, stir ½ teaspoon/3 ml of superfine sugar with1
teaspoon/5 ml water until sugar has dissolved.
Add:2 oz/60 ml Pierre
Ferrand 1840 Original Formula
1 teaspoon/5 ml orange liqueur, such as Mathilde Orange X.O. Liqueur
2-3 dashes aromatic bitters, such as Fee’s Whiskey barrel Bitters,
The Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters or Angostura bitters
Fill glass with cracked ice, stir well and strain into chilled
cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel over the top. For an Improved
Cognac Cocktail, substitute maraschino liqueur for the orange
liqueur and add a dash (or 3 or 4 drops) of absinthe.
Original Cognac Julep
Adapted from David Wondrich, Imbibe, 2007
In a highball glass, stir 2 teaspoons/10 ml superfine sugar with ½
oz/15 ml water until dissolved
 Add 5 or 6 mint leaves (from the bottom of the sprig) and press very
lightly with a muddler
Add 1 ½ oz/45 ml Pierre Ferrand 1840
Original Formula and fill withcrushed or finely cracked ice.
Swirl with a barspoon until the outside of the glass frosts.
Add more crushed ice and another 1 oz/30 ml Pierre Ferrand 1840
Original Formula. Stir again to frost the glass.
Garnish with at least 1 sprig of mint, preferably 3, and add a
straw.
Optional (but highly recommended): before inserting the mint and
straw float ½ oz/15 ml Plantation Vintage 2000 Jamaican Rum on top
by gently pouring it from a jigger over the back of a barspoon.
Jackson Punch
Adapted by David Wondrich from an 1863 recipe by Jerry Thomas
 Combine in cocktail shaker:
2 oz/60 ml Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula
1 oz/30 ml Plantation Reserve Barbados Rum
¾ oz/ 22 ml fresh-squeezed lemon juice
½ oz/15 ml simple syrup (made with equal parts sugar and water)
½ oz/15 ml raspberry syrup
2 oz/60 ml water
Fill with ice, shake well and strain into tall glass full of fresh
ice. Ornament with raspberries and half an orange wheel cut into 4
pieces and artistically arranged. Add a straw and serve.
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