The Frapin Cognac 25yo 1995 is a single-vintage Grande Champagne cognac from Cognac in France, bottled at 25 years of age and built on depth rather than heat. The 1995 summer in Grande Champagne was hot and dry, with abundant, pulpy fruit ahead of the harvest, and that ripeness shows as a rich, rounded spirit with plenty of sweetness of fruit behind the age.

Nose is generous straight from the pour: poached white peach and dried apricot, candied orange peel, walnut skin and a lift of vanilla and cinnamon. Air brings something older and quieter underneath — beeswax, old leather, a hint of cigar box and dried flowers that only long ageing gives.

The palate carries the fruit through with real weight, moving from stone fruit and honey into toffee, ginger and toasted almond. Texture is silky and slightly oily, with fine tannin drawing the whole thing tight, and the finish is long, warm and dry, closing on rancio, dried fig and a trace of spice that lingers well after the glass is down. Ugni Blanc gives it the backbone that keeps all that richness from turning heavy.

Serve it neat in a tulip glass at room temperature, ideally after dinner. It sits beautifully alongside dark chocolate, salted caramel, aged Comté or a plate of walnuts and dried fruit, and it will hold its own next to a good cigar if that is your habit.