Gelas Armagnac 16yrs De Bortoli 'Black Noble' Single Cask Finish (1yr) 47.50% 700ml

Baptiste Gélas formally established Maison Gélas in 1865 in Vic-Fezensac, having taken over the cooperage business of his father Guillaume Gélas. Baptiste shifted the firm's focus from barrel-making to Armagnac production, ageing and trade — a strategic choice driven by Vic-Fezensac's proximity to the Bas-Armagnac production zone and its network of small grower-distillers. The family's documented presence on the property dates back to 1246. A Gélas ancestor's late-eighteenth-century recipe — the Cordialor, an Armagnac-and-orange cordial dating to roughly 1798 — has remained in continuous production across the family generations.

Louis Gélas expanded the firm in the early twentieth century, acquiring Château de Martet — a vineyard property at Manciet — in 1910. Philippe Gélas, the fourth generation, has run the firm since late 2001. The current range spans from entry-level Bas-Armagnac and Armagnac-Ténarèze blends through age-tier expressions, the 60-year Décades line, and a deep vintage program running across harvests from 1959 to 2005. The house also continues the Cordialor — a regional speciality — alongside the conventional Armagnac line.