Founded by Shawn Carter, aka JAY-Z, and brought to life by Michel Casavecchia, who is one of the world’s greatest not only authorities in the cognac world, but an institution of a man, the D’usse brand has achieved world stardom in the ten short years of existence.
Founded in 2012, it has come to a point where it can stand tall along with the big boys, measuring up to the most renowned cognac houses.
In 2019, the D’usse cognac brand made the headlines by releasing a very limited edition bottle that was auctioned and sold for $52 500.
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D’usse Cognac: The Brand’s Conception
Jay-Z, known to the public as a rapper and Beyonce’s husband, apparently is much more than the public knows. He seems to also be a fan of Cognac and brandy in general and is very well-educated in this field.
Everything began when he was invited personally by Michel Casavecchia to try Michel’s newest thing. Everything was just perfect as Jay-Z sipped what is now known as D’usse Cognac.
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According to the statements that came after this visit, Jay-Z immediately fell in love with the drink, and there was simply no other option than making this project his baby.
They did the works, and ten years later, here we are; they have given the world the D’usse Cognac.
In 2019, to commemorate Jay-Z’s 50th birthday, the D’usse brand made a limited edition consisting of only 50 bottles. They were actioned, and a single bottle was sold for a jaw-dropping $52 500.
The D’usse brand is now owned jointly by Jay-Z and Bacardi as a joint venture between the two brands, Jay-Z being a brand by himself. The cellar master is Michel Casavecchia, who formally opened the D’usse cellar in 2012.
Also check: D’usse vs Hennessy: Which is a Better Cognac?
Products
The only two products the D’usse brand makes are D’usse VSOP and D’usse XO. Both age in the cellars of the legendary Chateau de Cognac.
The D’usse VSOP ages for 54 months, while the D’usse XO ages for ten years. As a result of the exquisite making process led by the cellar master, both cognacs have exquisitely refined taste; both are incredibly smooth, easy to drink, and have the same recognizable D’usse quality, each bearing its own individual and original markings.
Also check: Martell Cognac Prices
Taste
The D’usse Cognac is known as “the new expression of cognac” and is, therefore, authentic and original. Known as very flavorful, highly aromatic, full-bodied, and exceptionally smooth, the XO and VSOP D’use varieties have captured the hearts of all cognac lovers and tickled the curiosity of the beginners.
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The brand’s vision is to become a cultural icon, which they have managed to do so far.
Their main intention is to transform Cognac as it is known so far and create a product transcending the familiar, bringing the consumers into the unfamiliar, new, yet well-known and much loved.
The brand’s goal is to create a product that radiates for integrity, courage, freedom, and uniqueness, becoming the contemporary expression of Cognac.
D’usse cognac isn’t for the faint-hearted but for those who love gentility, elegance, and refinement. Created for enjoyment and not testing one’s limits, the D’usse Cognac is challenging on an entirely different level.
Also check: What To Mix With Cognac
Just because it is tender to the drinker doesn’t mean that it is weak. On the contrary, D’usse cognac is merciless on the taste buds, delivering flavors and aromas that awaken every fiber of the body. It is a highly stimulating drink, and each drop is worthy of in-depth exploration, creating an hours-long discussion.
Balanced to the point where you feel hundreds of tasting notes at the same time, yet you can describe the flavor in one word, the D’usse Cognac is said to be the perfect way to spend an evening.
Capable of completing and rounding up any type of gathering, whether a black dinner or a party, no one can resist spending at least a half an hour doing the aftermath of their evening over a glass of D’usse.
You don’t have to have an experienced palate to be able to appreciate D’usse cognac, as you definitely know what you like and what you don’t like.
Abundant in flavors and aromas, you may not know what nose and mid-palate mean and where the grapes grew, but you will definitely know that you are falling in love.
To the seasoned cognac enthusiasts, D’usse cognac is a love story, a multiple-volume book they would read a hundred times, experiencing it differently each and every time.
Whether you are a person who prefers mild drinks, or strong ones, the D’usse Cognac has what it takes to satisfy both. It may not burn you as you would have hoped, but it will surprise you in a million different ways.
Whether you decide to enjoy D’usse Cognac neat or you mix it into a cocktail, prepare for the smoothest ride of your life. Not that it doesn’t have an edge, far from it, but the edge is so gradual you can be on it for a while without feeling it. It is a prolonged pleasure and a colorful mixture of sensations and emotions.
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The D’usse Cognac is also an excellent pair to dinner meals as well as dessert. It has the amazing ability to fit sweet and savory and shapes itself according to your mood and what you pair it with.
If you pair it with savory dishes, it will intensify the flavors, as it will oppose them with its sweet notes, and if you pair it with sweets, it will make your dessert taste even sweeter, perfectly complementing it with its fruity tones.
The kick is simply delightful. It is gradual, gentle, and slowly driving you toward the climax. It is impossible to get wasted on D’usse Cognac, as it isn’t made to serve that purpose. Wasting is for aggressive drinks, and D’usse opens you up, allowing you to experience it in depth and fully.
If you overdo it, which is unlikely to happen, you are more likely to peacefully fall asleep than pass out. The hangover is virtually non-existent, which is the standard with quality drinks. D’usse is elegant throughout every stage of drunkenness, allowing you to keep your dignity and have fun at the same time.
Still, D’usse isn’t intended for wild parties and bar drinking but for more refined settings and elegantly packed occasions. It simply doesn’t fit in frat parties and crying in the bathroom, and it requires a certain maturity to be drank well.
What makes D’usse Cognac even more interesting and worthy of exploration is that each person experiences it differently. Of course, there is an objectively valid description of the taste, but the subjective perception of the drink is also very true.
Some experience the fruitiness more intensely, some feel the floral notes more, and some fall in love with the cinnamon dimension in the D’usse VSOP. In the XO edition, some will love the fig flavor, and others will adore the caramel and oak spice.
All perspectives are equally true, so you may stumble upon hundreds of different descriptions of the same sip, which is the magic that D’usse is able to create.
D’usse VSOP
D’usse VSOP (very special old pale) is exceptionally fruity, sweet, and smooth. It starts to seduce the notes with tender woody notes, slowly unraveling toward the fruity aromas and cinnamon tones.
It then pulls you further, starting the sip with fruity and cinnamon flavors, going further, and developing other layers of taste intertwined with floral notes and even more cinnamon.
When you hear cinnamon, you instantly think of an overbearing flavor, and though cinnamon is very much present in the palate of D’usse VSOP, it doesn’t dominate the taste.
The finish is very flavorful and even smoother. You can feel notes of honey and wood mixed with the warmth of the smooth burn created after the sip.
D’usse XO
D’usse XO (Extra Old) Cognac is a very smooth brandy balancing notes of cinnamon, figs, floral honey, caramel, and oak spice.
It ages for a period of ten years in the same wine cellar as the VSOP variety, acquiring the deliciousness it is so famous for. It also contains subtle notes of spices in a perfectly balanced amounts. You can feel slight pepperiness.
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At first, you will feel an expressive fruity and sweet note, something between figs and vanilla, enticing the palate and drawing you even further with subtle woody and cinnamon tones intensifying as the sip further opens up.
Reaching its climax, fully unraveling mid-palate, the sweetness intensifies and changes, transitioning softly from figs and vanilla to floral honey and slightly burnt notes.
Even though sweet is probably the only description able to describe D’usse XO in the most general sense, the sweetness is only a fraction of the taste palette of the brandy.
The reason why you would probably describe it as sweet is because the sweetness is the only constant flavor throughout the sip.
D’usse Cognac is known as very smooth and not that intense in alcohol content, meaning it isn’t meant to get drunk on it but to enjoy it. However, drunkenness from D’usse is very pleasant, as the kick is very gentle, refined, and soft.
The finish is exceptionally smooth and cotton-soft, and the burn is warm and very pleasant.
Trivia
It is no secret that alcohol can be healthy, providing you with a number of health benefits. After all, alcohol was originally created for medicinal purposes rather than getting drunk. However, with time alcohol became a frequent visitor at many dinner and lunch tables.
Since brandy is a type of wine, it contains its nutritional richness enhanced with brandy goodness. Rich in antioxidants, brandy is excellent for your circulatory health. The only thing you need to be mindful of is not to overdo it and to dosage wisely.
D’usse cognac is very rich in nutrients such as antioxidants and, in addition to being delicious and seductive, it is good for your health, even more so since it is of premium quality.
D’usse cognac is known to be rich in minerals and vitamins such as vitamins B12 and 6, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium, and zinc.
The D’usse Cognac is easy to digest, doesn’t create any stomach heaviness, it doesn’t contain any carbs, and is perfectly suitable if you are on a diet, especially carbless, such as keto or Atkins.
Competitors
Since D’usse is Cognac, it is natural to assume that cognac producers are its competitors; however, D’usse isn’t just Cognac but a premium product, so it cannot be challenged by just any cognac brand.
Therefore, D’usse is mostly challenged by the big boys in the cognac department, i.e., Hennessey, Martell, Remy Martin, and Courvoisier. Still, the biggest competitor of them being the Hennessey house.
Hennessey and D’usse are most similar compared to the rest of the big four cognac houses. Many think that Hennessey and D’usse are the same drink, or at least connected in some way.
This, however, isn’t so, as Hennessey and D’usse contain traces that make them unique.
Even though you can compare them, answering which is better is a mission impossible, as there are as many answers as there are people sipping these two cognacs.
Different people like Hennessy and D’usse Cognac for many reasons. They are both of premium quality, but they differ mainly in the style. D’usse is innovative, bold, and reformative, while Hennessey is classic and traditional.
You can enjoy them both neat as well as in a cocktail, and you should base your decision on your current mood and your character. Both are an excellent solutions, so your personal preference plays a decisive role here.
If you are in the mood for something classical, premium quality, traditional, and wise, you should definitely go for a glass of Hennessey.
If you are more inclined toward the new, the contemporary, the courageous, yet honorable, assertive, and innovative, then D’usse should be your choice.
The one aspect in which Hennessey comes before D’usse is that it has more varieties. However, you cannot hold this against D’usse, as Hennessey has been around for almost 300 years while D’usse has just entered its second decade of existence.
Prices and Sizes
D’usse cognac comes in two varieties, XO and VSOP. There are also several different offers, such as personalized bottles, but still, it will either be the XO or the VSOP variety.
D’USSÉ VSOP contains 40%, and you can get it in three different bottle sizes, i.e., 200 ml, priced at $16.99, 375 ml priced at $27.99, and 750 ml, priced at $49.99.
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D’USSÉ XO is much rarer and pricier than D’USSÉ VSOP. It too has 40 %, and you can find it in only one bottle size, i.e., 750 ml, priced at $199.99.
As you can see, the XO variety is much more expensive than the VSOP, as it takes much longer to make. While the VSOP ages for at least 54 months, the XO variety needs to age for at least ten years.
| Type | Size | Average Price |
| D’USSÉ VSOP | 200 ml. | $16.99 |
| D’USSÉ VSOP | 375 ml. | $27.99 |
| D’USSÉ VSOP | 750 ml. | $49.99 |
| D’USSÉ XO | 750 ml. | $199.99 |
How Much Does a Bottle of D’usse Cost?
The D’usse VSOP comes in three sizes. The 200 ml. bottle costs almost $17, the 375 ml. bottle costs almost $28, and the 750 ml. bottle costs almost $50.
The D’usse XO variety comes in only one size, i.e., 750 ml. and it costs almost $200.
What Is the Most Expensive Bottle of D’usse?
The most expensive bottle of D’usse in regular circulation is the D’usse XO, priced at $200. However, that is not the most money someone has ever paid for a bottle of D’usse.
The most expensive bottle of D’usse ever sold is one of the limited edition consisting of only 50 bottles released for Jay-Z’s 50th birthday in 2019.
A bottle of this limited series was auctioned and sold for an unbelievable amount of $52 500.
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Is D’usse Expensive?
D’usse is not an expensive cognac, even more so since it provides premium quality for affordable prices. A drink of the same quality would cost at least double.
It may seem expensive to those who don’t know Cognac well and cannot appreciate it fully. However, an experienced palate would say that D’usse cognac is sold even below its real worth.
What Size Is a Fifth of Liquor?
A fifth of a liter is 757 milliliters; however, it isn’t a measurement that is still in use, as it has been superseded by the 750 ml. size, which is the most common size for alcohol bottles.
Other common sizes are 200 ml, 350 ml, 500 ml, and 1.75 L.
Resources:
- https://www.dusse.com/product/dusse-vsop/
- https://moneyinc.com/dusse-cognac/
- https://thebottledprices.com/dusse-prices/
- https://www.dusse.com/shop/
