Category: Learning about Brandy

In January of this year we commented on Ed Bates’ presentation – ‘Cognac houses should be different, not follow the crowd’.  It is a view we have always held and now it seems that the Cognac Expert Blog concurs.  TheyRead more

An impossible question to answer, it is of course down to personal taste, but we do have a few facts to consider.  Cognac is made from grapes and whisky from grain so cognac can develop a variety of fruitful aromasRead more

Most people regard the Ugni Blanc as the cognac grape variety but there are in fact 8 different varieties allowed in the production of cognac.  The Ugni Blanc is also known as the St Emillion des Charente, but the Colombard,Read more

Perhaps because we tend to think of cognac as the venerable grandfather of luxury spirits, the image of mixing it with anything which may contaminate its qualities has isolated it to the peak of individualism – only to be enjoyedRead more

As the New Year rolls in the cognac distillers will be checking the ‘chais’ (cellars) and their existing stocks of cognac in barrels from previous years.  Of course there are hundreds of old cellars all over the Cognac region, eachRead more

“Christmas” we say with a sigh of disbelief, we have only just recovered from the last annual triumph of food and drink only to be confronted with identifying that special and very personal present for the person in our livesRead more

I am not too sure that I should be writing about age as I have just had a rather significant birthday but I wanted to answer some of the questions that regularly come up about a cognac’s age. Many peopleRead more

The brandy balloon glass is certainly an attractive and traditional way to drink cognac and it is probably the image we most associate with it. However, it is far from ideal because the surface area of the cognac in theRead more

The aroma of luxury cognac is, without doubt, part of its appeal but why is it so significant? Scientists from the Technische Universitat Munchen and the German Research Centre for Food Chemistry have found that food smells have 230 keyRead 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 marketedRead more