In 1951, at the age of 20, Jean started his military service in the Monts d'Or, on the outskirts of Lyon. During the 18 months spent at the base, he shared a room with 3 other young men, Michel Charitte, Jacques Gabaud and Pierre F. This was to be the beginning of a very strong and enduring friendship. Over the years, Pierre, a ninth generation cognac maker from La Nerolle (Segonzac), became a mentor to Jean's grandson, Nicolas. Pierre introduced the latter to his friends - artisanal cognac distillers - enabling Nicolas to create strong relationships with the people at the heart of this unique distilled spirit while providing him with the opportunity to taste their most precious cognacs, most of which are private family stocks unreleased to the market.

In 2008, Nicolas decided to purchase some of the barrels he and Pierre tasted, with the hope of making them available to cognac enthusiasts. One by one, those casks will be hand bottled at full proof and released. A cask will yield between 100 and 450 regular bottles of 750ML, depending on the amount of cognac left in it when bottled. When all the bottles from one specific cask have been sold, another cask is then selected and bottled.

In homage, Nicolas has named these special cognacs after his late father, Paul-Marie, who passed away too soon.

Barrique "Devant la Porte"
Pierre has been looking for years for someone who would share his passion for cognac. At the end of 2008, Pierre allowed Nicolas to purchase some of his personal stocks of old eau-de-vie. This first bottling comes from Pierre's first distillation in the early 1950's. Bottled at full proof and unfiltered, this cognac is dedicated to Pierre, whose passion and knowledge are as lively as ever at age 79. Pierre refers to his casks by naming them after their location in his cellar: when Nicolas purchased it, this cask was "devant la porte" - in front of the door.