About
Badalassi Carlo Cognac Minerva is a vegetable-tanned leather produced by Badalassi Carlo tannery in Tuscany, Italy, featuring warm brown cognac tones. This color variation of Minerva leather is available in both Minerva Smooth and Minerva Box variants, each sharing the same vegetable tanning process and wax infusion techniques that define the Minerva leather line.
About
Badalassi Carlo Cognac Minerva is a vegetable-tanned leather produced by Badalassi Carlo tannery in Tuscany, Italy, featuring warm brown cognac tones. This color variation of Minerva leather is available in both Minerva Smooth and Minerva Box variants, each sharing the same vegetable tanning process and wax infusion techniques that define the Minerva leather line.
Cognac is one of the standard colors offered in both Minerva Smooth and Minerva Box, with each variant produced in 5 ounce thickness (2 millimeters plus or minus 0.2 millimeters). Both variants share the same full-grain vegetable-tanned construction while differing only in surface texture.
Production
Badalassi Carlo produces Cognac Minerva using traditional vegetable tanning methods with tree barks, techniques dating back hundreds of years. The tannery holds certification from the Pelle Vegetale Consortium and maintains membership in Consorzio Vera Pelle Italiana, verifying adherence to strict traditional vegetable tanning standards.
The leather is classified as vacchetta, characterized by its infusion with a special blend of Italian fat wax. This treatment contributes to the material's distinctive feel and aging characteristics. The full aniline finish ensures dye completely penetrates the leather thickness, establishing cognac tones throughout the material. The full-grain construction preserves the natural surface of the hide, maintaining grain patterns throughout the tanning process.
Characteristics
Cognac Minerva features a supple feel with slight firmness, making it easy to cut and skive. Minerva Smooth presents a smooth surface with natural grain visible, while Minerva Box features a natural pebbled texture created through a dry-milling or drumming process. Despite the surface differences, both variants maintain the same cognac coloration and underlying leather properties.
The leather is burnishable, toolable, and wet moldable, making it suitable for various applications including footwear, bookbinding, tooling, and stamping projects. Both variants develop visible patina over time through wear, with the cognac color deepening and developing richer tones with use.
Applications
John Lofgren Bootmaker incorporates Badalassi Carlo cognac leather in their Donkey Puncher Boots. These logger-style boots feature Goodyear welt construction with storm welts, stacked woodsman heels, and cognac Badalassi Carlo uppers combined with Japanese horsehide lining.
Junkard Company offers their SC2078 model with Badalassi Carlo Minerva Smooth in cognac. The boot features handwelted-Goodyear welt construction using the cognac-colored leather throughout.
References
Badalassi Carlo - Minerva Smooth - Rocky Mountain Leather Supply. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
Badalassi Carlo - Minerva Box - Rocky Mountain Leather Supply. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
Badalassi Carlo - A & A Crack & Sons. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
Donkey Puncher Boots - John Lofgren Bootmaker. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
SC2078 - Junkard Company. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
