Distiller Notes
Ennobled by King Louis XVIII in 1818, the Castarède family gave the company its name and its coat of arms.
In 1832, our company was included in the trade register as the first trading House declared in Armagnac trading.
172 years later, the Castarède family found again the Baron Haussmann spirit in settling in the heart of Paris (8th District), indeed Florence Castarède opened in 2006 a show room, a place dedicated to culture where artists, writers and Armagnac’s connoisseurs can share a glass of Armagnac in a friendly atmosphere modeled on of Henri IV and D’Artagnan.
In 1932, Raymond Castarède took over the family company.
This family business which had a great activity in the beginning, has not known the development that it should have had for some reasons, in particular for geographical reasons. And in our family we are more collectors than merchants. Very active in the local institutions ( Company of Musketeers, BNIA, federation of Armagnac…) Raymond Castarède has repeteadly promoted this Eau-de-vie from Gascony.
His wife, then his son, Jean Castarède, have continued to celebrate this french brandy.
Today, Jean Castarède’s daughter, Florence Castarède runs the company. She does not hesitate to travel the world to share with people this extraordinary family heritage full of history, with a catching joy of living.
Cardinal Vital Du Four claimed that it “cures gout and cankers, heals wounds of the skin … renders men joyous, preserves youth and retards senility.”
Armagnac is produced in the Gascony region of Southwest France and is among the earliest of spirits produced, prescribed over the last 700 years for a myriad of therapeutic benefits. Owing to its ancient heritage, the production method is much simpler than that of its cousin, Cognac, with just a single distillation through a column still prior to barrel aging. This yields a spirit that is generally more flavorful and fragrant than other Brandies.