Beeing a keen historian, Mr. Kelt studied documents concerning cognac in the 18th and 19th centuries. He found numerous references to the effect the sea had on ageing Madeira, Cognac and Rum when the spirits were transported in oak barrels to far away destinations. He also found documents concerning the change in quality of cognac that arrived in Hong Kong, New York and the colonies once the cognac started to be shipped in bottles rather than oak barrels.
As the KELT family hails from Scandinavia Mr. Kelt was very familiar with the Norweigan aquavit Linie Aquavit.This has its maturation at sea – it is transported in aged oak casks from Norway to the Equator and then back again. The idea began to form that this was a method which should be tried also for the KELT cognacs. If we could recreate a quality given to Cognac by the sea, this could be beneficial and a further step on the road to perfection. With assistance from Linie Aquavit a special container was created for the KELT cognacs. Mr. Kelt decided that that the best way to effectuate the sea voyage would be to let the container stay on a ship that did a continuous world roundtrip taking 90-110 days depending on weather.
The first trial was in 1990 and it was a huge success. Many people doubted that the sea voyage would have an effect. At a tasting in Cognac with industry professionals – the room became quiet when the comparative tasting began. One of the top Master Blenders in cognac remarked after a long silence – “This was a great cognac, it is now a memorable cognac”.
Further trials were made to optimise the effects of the Tour du Monde. Smaller barrels proved to be most efficient. Traditional Limousin oak barrels are used which must be extensively research. They must only have contained Grande Champagne and they must be of a certain age and composition, depending on which quality of KELT cognac is used.
The barrels must only be filled to 70% capacity so that there is ample room for the cognac to wash around inside the barrel which facilitates contact and extraction from the wood as well as exchange of oxygen.
KELT Tour du Monde always takes an easterly direction. It has been experienced that there is a considerable difference between going east or west. For some unexplained reason a westbound Tour du Monde does not produce as good an effect as going eastbound. After leaving LeHavre the Tour du Monde takes our cognac to a few Norther European ports, then heads south into the Mediterranean, through the Suez canal into the Arabian Sea and from there on to Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and across the Pacific to the United States and Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we turn south for the Panama canal and then North again following theeast coast of the US to New York before the return across the Atlantic Ocean back to France and LeHavre.
After returning to Cognac the KELT cognacs are allowed a peri-od of rest before bottling. This period varies between 3-5months.
THE EFFECT OF THE TOUR DU MONDE
Movement
The constant movement of the sea washes the cognac around inside the barrels 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every molecule of the cognac is in contact with wood hundreds of times a day. This can be compared to once in three years when the cognac lies in the cellar or “Chai”.
The constant movement helps bring out subtleties in the wood as well as the desired Limousin characteristics that normally would take approximately 10 years to extract, thereby increasing the age profile of the cognac by approximately a decade in 90 days.
Temperature
Inside the container, temperatures range from 10°C to 65°C. These temperature variations, in particular the heat, helps accelerate ageing and blending processes. Just as any chemical reaction, when you add heat you accelerate the process.
Air pressure changes
At sea, air pressure changes frequently. This expands and contracts the Limousin oak wood and brings in new oxygen which also accelerates the process.
Marrying the blend
The combination of the movement, temperature and air pressure changes marries the different cognacs in the blend together in a way which cannot be achieved even by the most skilful Master Blender. The KELT cognacs become homogenous, seemingly one single cognac instead of several cognacs blended together.
A legendary smoothness
The combination of all the above interact to form loose bindings between the alcohol and water molecules in the cognac, thereby creating an incredible smoothness. The smoothness that is created by the Tour du Monde can usually only be found in cognacs of more than 35 years of age.
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