Bache Gabrielsen VS Tre Kors Cognac

Bache Gabrielsen VS

Bache Gabrielsen VS Tre Kors (“Three Crosses”) is a particularly interesting VS because there’s a genuine story behind the name, and the Cognac itself is more characterful than I’d expect from a basic VS [Very Special].

Bache Gabrielsen is unusual among Cognac houses because its roots are Norwegian rather than French. Thomas Bache-Gabrielsen came to Cognac from Norway in 1903, at about age 20, initially to develop his family’s wine-and-spirits business. He met his future wife Odette, the daughter of local winegrowers, and decided to remain in France. In 1905, Thomas and fellow Norwegian Peter Rustad bought the existing Cognac house A. Edmond Dupuy, which dated to 1852. That became Maison Bache Gabrielsen. (The origin story of Bache Gabrielsen is curiously similar to that of the Cognac house founded by Jens Reidar Larsen.)

The modest tasting room. Photo: Terje Gaarden

Remarkably, the company remains a family house four generations later. It has always had a particularly strong following in Scandinavia, especially Norway, while remaining comparatively under the radar in the United States.

Bache Gabrielsen isn’t simply another brand owned by one of the giant multinational drinks companies. Its identity is still very much that of a boutique Cognac house. The company’s current range stretches from Tre Kors through VSOP, XO, Extra, and Hors d’Age expressions, as well as some rather adventurous releases involving American oak, triple-cask maturation, and other experiments.

Tre Kors literally means “Three Crosses” in Norwegian. And the story is terrific. Norway instituted alcohol prohibition beginning in 1916. (Stupidly, the United States did the same in 1920. Norway’s prohibition ended in 1927, ours in 1933.) But even during prohibition, alcohol could still be obtained through pharmacies for medicinal purposes.

At the time, young Cognacs were traditionally identified with three stars—essentially the predecessor to today’s VS designation. Thomas Bache-Gabrielsen had an ingenious marketing idea: he replaced the three stars with three crosses, evoking the medical/pharmacy symbol. The crosses were originally red. They subsequently became white, but the three-cross motif remains on the label today.

Bache Gabrielsen VS Tre Kors Cognac

The house describes this as combining powerful young eaux-de-vie with some more mature Cognac. Several sources describe Tre Kors more specifically as roughly 75% Fins Bois and 25% Champagne Cognac (Grande and/or Petite Champagne), all 100% Ugni Blanc. But, the current Bache Gabrielsen technical sheet lists only Fins Bois and Petite Champagne, without giving percentages, so take this with a grain of salt.

Regardless, all that Fins Bois matters because it tends to produce Cognacs that mature relatively quickly and emphasize fresh fruit, grapes, apples, and flowers, rather than the very slow-developing floral/rancio character associated with old Grande Champagne Cognac.

Tre Kors pours a predictable but rather light copper-gold in the glass. The alcohol is up front on the nose, backed up by vanilla from Limousin oak, citrus, and spices. The robust palate features more lively citrus with a bit of cinnamon and a hint of banana, and wraps up in a nice a soft, medium-length finish. The ABV is the usual 40%.

Listen to my podcast about brandy, Cognac, and Armagnac here.

A note about brandy vs. Cognac: brandy is a liquor distilled from wine and aged in wood. (Brandy can be made from fruits other than grapes as well, but that’s a story for another time.) Cognac is brandy that specifically comes from the town of Cognac and the delimited surrounding areas in western France. (The one which has the most favorable soil and geographical conditions is Grande Champagne.) So, all Cognacs are brandy, but not all brandies are Cognac. For more detail on brandy and Cognac, click here.

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Bache Gabrielsen VS

Bache Gabrielsen VS Tre Kors Cognac

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