Frapin Plume is a very old Grande Champagne cognac from Cognac, built from a blend of around twenty eaux-de-vie grown on the estate's own vineyards around Château Fontpinot and aged for decades in century-old barrels. It is deep, resinous and slow-moving, the sort of cognac that changes shape in the glass over half an hour rather than showing everything at once.

Burnt orange in the glass, Frapin Plume opens on dried apricot, fig and candied orange peel, with liquorice and tobacco leaf underneath. Time brings cigar box, prune and the nutty, faintly salty rancio that only comes with long ageing in damp cellars.

The palate is broad and unhurried, with the humid-cellar roundness this Grande Champagne house is known for holding everything together. Sweetness of dried fruit sits against dry, spicy wood and a gentle grip, and the finish runs long on walnut, orange rind and warm spice, never hot or edgy.

Serve it on its own in a tulip glass at room temperature, without ice. If you want something alongside, keep it simple: dark chocolate with a high cocoa content, roasted walnuts and dried figs, aged hard cheese, or a very good cigar for those who partake.

A cognac of this age is stable in bottle and can be cellared indefinitely upright, though once opened the 700mL decanter is best enjoyed across a year or two while the aromatics are at their fullest.