And so my brandy tour comes to an end with this, a “Cognac Fine Champagne” which means it is made with at least 50 percent of its grapes coming from the Grande Champagne region, and the remaining grapes coming from the Petite Champagne region (no, not THAT Champagne region, though both are named for their similar souls and topography).
Smells of raisin, fig, oak, and booze. The taste is dry and woody with flavors of apple, cherry, vanilla, and oak. The finish is long with a moderate burn, featuring notes of oak, herbal hops, pipe tobacco, leather, vanilla, and a hint of toffee. Overall, a bit too woody and too much bite to be a sipper in my opinion, but should work well in cocktails…
A sidecar is surprisingly bold and the cognac certainly stands out with the oak being front and center.
A Cognac Rose is quite delightful actually, with the grenadine and oak melding beautifully as a background to the lovely candied lemon flavors.
A Cognac Jack is smooth and lemony with apple underneath and a hint of oak in the finish. Nice, but probably a waste of a spirit this nuanced.
An Old Fashioned works and the cognac is able to stand out on it’s own, but it’s just not as enjoyable to me as either the Hennessy or Courvoisier VSOPs. Perhaps more expensive variants of this brand are worth the money, but I’d rather just stick to Hennessy VS or more probably just a good brandy like the Torres or Metaxa for cocktails, and sip on either the Courvoisier VSOP or Armagnac.