About this episode

Thibaut Hontanx discusses his diverse career in distillation, including his role as a master blender at Courvoisier and his experiences in South Africa and Martinique.

Thibaut Hontanx is only the seventh master blender in Courvoisier's nearly 200-year history, but that might not be the most interesting thing about his incredibly eclectic career. From growing up around his grandfather's sawmill in France, to arriving in South Africa at 21 with a brief and a blank piece of paper to build the country's first agave spirits distillery from scratch, to seven years at Hennessy deepening his understanding of cognac ageing — all while completing an oenology degree in Bordeaux mid-career. Thibaut has accumulated a breadth of experience that very few people in this industry can match. We follow him to Martinique, where he oversaw production at Rhum Clément, and explore the surprising parallels between rhum agricole and cognac — two AOC-protected, terroir-driven spirits that share a philosophy but feel like completely different worlds. Back in Cognac, we get into the technical craft behind Courvoisier's house style, the challenges of recent vintages in a changing climate, new grape varieties being trialled within the AOC, and what it means to hold a role where the decisions you make today will be drunk by someone thirty years from now. And why growing up…

People in this episode

Host: Tristan Stephenson

Guest: Thibaut Hontanx

Topics covered

• distillation
• cognac
• agave spirits
• master blender
• terroir-driven spirits
• oak aging

Keywords

• Thibaut Hontanx
• Courvoisier
• Hennessy
• agave spirits
• cognac
• Rhum Clément
• oak aging
• distillation

Sponsors

Fever-Tree, Belvedere Vodka

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Courvoisier, Hennessy, Rhum Clément

Places: France, South Africa, Bordeaux, Martinique

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