Category: Brandy Education

The other day, I was talking to a barman in a hotel and he, like so many other people, wanted to know “what is the difference between brandy and cognac?” Certainly in the trade we all assume that we know the answer to this, so was our barman an exception? I don’t think so. Brandy is a spirit distilled from a fruit, it can be any fruit, any strength and aged for six days or 60 years, there really are very few rules. Cognac on the other hand is rather more complex and allows experts to differentiate between different crus,… Read more

There is a very definite correlation between the Chivas Brothers’ view of producing a great spirit and our own.  Three or four years ago the whisky producers launched the ‘Age Matters’ campaign which challenged consumers to ‘Look for the number.  Know the age.  Know whisky.’  The campaign was based on research conducted worldwide which found that over 90% of consumers believe that age is an important indicator of quality and 89% stated that they actively look for an age statement when buying. ‘Numbers on Bottles’, as an ethos, was pioneered by Hermitage Cognacs in the late 1990s.  We wholeheartedly agree… Read more

Longer days and lazy evenings are what we are all looking forward to now that British Summer Time has begun. This time of year also marks the end of the cognac distillation process for last summer’s harvest – strict regulations dictate that it must be completed by 31 March – and so, the ageing process for the 2014 vintage has already begun. The longer it is left in oak barrels the finer it will be, which is why our very old vintages are particularly special. Hermitage Reaux 1954 was distilled 60 years ago and just oozes rich, dark chocolatey flavours… Read more

The name ‘Cognac’ is protected by Geographical Indication – in other words it needs to be grown and produced in the Cognac region of France under strict conditions. Only brandy created using such a method is entitled to be marketed under the name of ‘Cognac’.  But this ruling did not stop Indian based company, KALS Distilleries from producing its own ‘French Cognac Brandy’.  It took a law suit, filed by the BNIC at the Madras High Court, to have the product name changed.  Protection of the name ‘Cognac’ is vital to the value and longevity of the industry and one… Read more

A new authoritative guide has just been published, written by Nick Faith and called simply ‘Cognac’. This wonderfully researched book covers every aspect of cognac’s long and colourful history, its development through time and a great deal of information on its production and ageing.  The book also includes a fully updated directory of the top producers and their products.  Cognac is the King of all spirits and has been around since the 16th century. It is a hugely complex and diverse spirit which is several stages on from wine and when understood properly, creates an incredibly exciting encyclopaedia of knowledge. … Read more

It is hugely unfortunate that most people who drink brandy derive only the mildest pleasure from the experience provided for them by experts with generations of family understanding and knowledge to create what in every case is a totally unique experience. How nice it would be if we could all enhance our knowledge and understanding of the drink sufficiently to make each tasting a truly great and memorable experience. Perhaps part of our problem is that so many brandies have such minimal differences in taste that even for experts it becomes difficult to associate an individual brand with a specific… Read more

This is probably the most used term in the cognac industry since it covers the transformation of the wine to a brandy. Cognacs are double distilled, the first distillation will transform the wine to a cloudy liquid with a strength around 27-30 %abv and known as brouillis The second distillation transform the brouillis into a water clear and very strong (67-72 %abv) spirit we call eau de vie which is then aged in oak casks for many years.  The eau de vie gradually mellows and changes colour as a result of the chemical (tannins, lignins and hemi-cellulose) contact with the… Read more

Throughout drinking history the age of a bottle’s content has always been contentious, in particular for wines and spirits where age can represent a substantial part of the bottle value. Defining the age of a cognac has, for the vast majority of companies, become all but impossible as they have to buy and blend as many as 3000 different cognacs to meet their sales requirements. To clarify the situation, a set of rules was created by the governing body of cognac, the Bureau National Interprofessionel de Cognac (BNIC). They require cognacs to be aged in oak casks for a specific period of… Read more

Hennessy VSOP and Hennessy XO are perhaps the best known cognacs in the world, but over the years the standards of these cognacs has not just slipped but plunged to depths unimaginable in the haze of cognac gloom. The barrel age of these onetime legendary cognacs is falling annually as the demand for them increases. Probably the biggest problem is that as the age of the cognac in the bottle reduces, the level of additives required to compensate for their fiery nature and light colour increases. Hennessy’s problem is by no means unique. Indeed it is the problem with all… Read more

Legend has it that one cold night Santa, being known as a man of great generosity and feeling great remorse at the duties of his reindeer, plied a quantity of brandy over some rich cake and gave it to his lead reindeer to keep him warm, resulting in a red nose. The famous Christmas song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer started life as a poem created by an American advertising executive called Robert May. He was requested to produce a poem that could be given away to children by the Santa Claus employed by Department Stores at Christmas! Working as an… Read more