328-year-old cognac found by collector is confirmed as oldest in world

A 328-year-old cognac has been certified as the oldest in existence.

The bottle of 1696 Jules Robin Cognac belongs to Dutch collector Lars Janssen, who recently discovered it among his vast reserve of rare cognacs.

It is 24 years older than the previous known oldest cognac, a bottle of 1720 Caves Du Restaurant owned by Vietnamese collector Nguyen Dinh Tuan Viet.

This record is based upon the date on which the cognac was distilled, not bottled.

Although the record-breaking cognac was distilled in 1696 – a time when King Louis XIV ruled over France and King William III sat on the English throne – it wasn’t bottled until around 200 years later, sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s by Jules Robin and Edmond Jaulin.

Their company, named after Robin, was founded in 1850, thus the “1696” imprinted on the bottle was not intended to represent their origination, it was to denote the cognac’s vintage year of production.

Upon his retirement from the company in the late 1890s, Jaulin was gifted the bottle by Robin as a token of appreciation.

Jaulin’s grandson Edmond, in financial distress, sold it in the 1950s to cognac collector Pierre De Lannoy, whose estate sold it in 2001 to another collector, Christian Vigneron, who sold it to Lars in 2018 for €142,500 (£120,000; $158,000).

The liquid’s age was validated by Robert M. Stern, an independent expert in antique glass, wine and spirits.

He said: “There is no question that this date was intended to represent the date of the liquid within the decanter.

“Family predecessors of Jules Robin started liquor companies in the mid-late 18th century, and soon after these family members passed away, the Jules Robin company was formed. This could explain how this old cognac was acquired by Jules Robin & Co.”

The bottle is made of cut lead crystal glass set in a gold casing.

It is still fully sealed with the original liquid and is secured with the original cork and wax seal, which is overlaid with gold leaf bearing the Jules Robin name.

As per Stern’s report, the cork and seal are in fine condition, appearing authentic and contemporary with the production of the bottle, and showing no signs of tampering.

He described it as “truly a museum worthy piece,” adding: “It is historic. It is perhaps the most extraordinary, and clearly the most beautifully presented, antique spirit in existence.”