Dudognon Napoleon Cognac

A few months ago, I tried the K&L exclusive Dudognon Napoleon II Cognac. Now, I'll try one from Astor: the Dudognon Napoleon Cognac is a 15 year old.

Dudognon Napoleon, 42% abv (Astor $65)

The nose is light with a malty quality, like an Irish Whiskey. The palate has a similar grassy and grainy quality which fades to malt in the finish.

This is an odd bird and much different from the Napoleon II that I tasted previously. It tastes much more like a light whiskey than a Cognac. Tasting blind, I would have guessed it was a blended Irish Whiskey or maybe even a Scotch grain whiskey. It's an odd profile for Cognac and not one I prefer.

Thanks to Dan Walbrun for the sample. 

My Favorite French Brandies of the 2010s

Following up on the list of my favorite whiskeys of all time, I thought I would do something similar for brandy. Listed below are my ten favorite French brandies released in the last five years. As with the whiskey list, I made this without regard to price or current availability, though I limited it to brandies available at retail in the U.S. since 2010 (i.e., the Golden Age of Brandy). They are listed in alphabetical order by type of brandy.

Cognac

Navarre Vieille Reserve, Grande Champagne, 45% abv
Paul-Marie & Fils Cognac, Borderies, Faultline Spirits, 61% abv
Paul-Marie & Fils Devant La Porte 1951, Grande Champagne, 51% abv

Armagnac

Domaine de Baraillon 1893, Bas-Armagnac, 40% abv
Domaine de Baraillon 1933, Bas-Armagnac, 40% abv
Domaine de Baraillon 1985, Bas-Armagnac 48% abv 
Chateau de Pellehaut 1996, Tenareze, 17 yo, 50.4% abv
Domaine de Pouchegu 1986, Tenzareze, 45% abv

Calvados

Camut Privilege 18 yo, Pays D'Auge, 40%
Henri Bernard Beudin Calvados, Eric Bordelet Selection, 18 yo, 53% abv

Dudognon Napoleon II Cognac

Today I'm tasting a K&L excluisve Cognac from Dudognon in the Grande Champagne region. It's a blend of portions of two Cognac casks distilled in 2006, one made from Ugni Blanc and the other from Montils, one of the lesser known Cognac grapes.

Dudognon Napoleon II, 40% abv ($50)

This has a really nice nose with a good balance of fruit and mild spices. It starts sweet on the palate and then develops some mineral notes which wind into a long, mineral finish.

This is nice and I really like the flavor composition of fruit, spice and mineral notes. It's a bit light though. I would love to taste a higher proof version because with a bit more alcohol, I think there would be a real depth and intensity to it.

Hennessy Master Blender's No. 1

There is a new Cognac out from Hennessy, of all places, that sounded intriguing when I read about it on the K&L blog.  I generally stay away from the big Cognac houses with their liberal use of caramel and sugar, but these houses have access to a huge number of producers who they have exclusive contracts with. One can only imagine the amazing casks they have access to that get poured willy nilly into their mass market brandies.

This is supposed to be a less sweet, more complex Cognac for the serious brandy drinker. Let's see.

Hennessy Master Blender's Selection No. 1, 43% abv ($80)

The nose is spicy with baking spices and fresh cut oak. The palate is spicy with a light sweetness that turns just slightly fruity. It packs a punch that feels stronger than its abv. The finish is mostly spicy at first, then turns to sweet grape juice notes followed by an artificial sweetener taste, as in diet cola.

As promised, this is more interesting than anything I've tasted from the standard Hennessy line. It's drier with more spice, better balance and more depth. That being said, it's still definitively Hennessy with the same general flavor profile. It's like how Knob Creek is better than Jim Beam Black, but it's still Beam.

All in all, this is drinkable and certainly a step up from standard Hennessy, but it's hard to recommend when there are so many great, complex Armagnacs available for the same price (or cheaper). Still, this is definitely a step in the right direction that I'd love to see more concentration on quality from the big Cognac houses.

Two New Cognacs

Photo Courtesy PM Spirits

Today I taste two new Cognacs being brought in by Nicolas Palazzi's PM Spirits.

Gourry de Chadeville, 8 years old, 55% ($95)

This is the third release of Gourry de Chadeville that we have seen. Each one has been different. This 100% Ugni Blanc Cognac is  composed of two casks. One spent four years in a Saint-Emillion cask and was then transferred to Cognac casks for an additional four years. The other spent its first four years in a Cognac cask and was then transferred to a Saint-Emillion cask for its next four years.

The nose has strong wine notes with some malt, very whiskey like. The palate is similar with strong malt and wine notes, and a bit of a funky note. Had I been given this blind, I might have guessed that it was a Springbank. It's got a nice punch with very little in the way of fruit character - definitely a brandy for malt drinkers.

Bourgoin Micro Barrique, 22 years old, 55.3% ($150)

Another 100% Ugni Blanc, this Cognac from the Fins Bois region was distilled in 1994 and finished in 10 liter barrels (i.e. micro barrique). The nose is grassy with green grapes. The palate is dry with grassy/malty notes and just a slight brandy character and a malty finish. This one has a slightly more brandy-like character than the Gourry, but it's still more malt-like than brandy like.

I don't know that traditional brandy enthusiasts will be excited about these Cognacs. Given their strong malt whiskey characteristics, they might appeal more to malt fans.  

Thanks to PM Spirits for the samples.

New Cognac from PM Spirits: Gourry de Chadeville Sauternes Aged

This week I'll be drinking brandy. New York based importer/distributor Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits, aka Captain Cognac, sent me a number of interesting samples he is now carrying. Palazzi is a stickler for quality so I was excited to try them. As with nearly all of Palazzi's products, these are cask strength with no additives. We'll start with Cognac, move on to Armagnac tomorrow, then some Calvados and Pineau de Charentes.

I was a huge fan of the Gourry de Chadeville Cognac Palazzi brought in last year. This year, he's got a new one which combines two casks: one Sauternes cask and one Cognac cask. After five years in those casks, they switched them (dumping the Sauternes into the Cognac cask and vice versa), aged them another five years and then blended them. 

Gourry de Chadeville Sauternes Aged Cognac, 10 years old, 43.4% abv ($99)

The Sauternes influence is apparent from the get-go on the nose. There's a sweet wine note early on followed by pears and hay. It's really nice. On the palate it's fresh and fruity, obviously young but not offensively so. It's got some hay that makes it taste similar to a single malt. The finish is sweet and a bit acidic. This is nothing like the monster Gourry of last year, but it's a very pleasant brandy.

Thanks to Nicolas Palazzi for the sample.  

Gourry de Chadeville Cognac

Nicolas Palazzi, aka Captain Cognac - brandy importer extraordinaire, sent me a new brandy, which is always a good thing.  I'm not sure anyone picks their Cognacs as carefully as Palazzi, who is very strict about pure spirit with none of the nasty additives and coloring that are typically poured into mass market Cognac.

His latest is a single cask, cask strength, non-chill filtered Cognace from the House of Gourry de Chadeville, a Grande Fine Champagne estate which claims to be the oldest Cognac producer, having acquired their vineyards in 1619. This Cognac is made from Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard grapes. It carries no age statement and weighs in at 64.3% abv, which is huge for a Cognac. There are 330 bottles.


Gourry de Chadeville Cognac, 64.3% abv ($150)

The nose is just huge with chocolate, wood spice and some grassy/earthy notes at the end.  It doesn't smell like any Cognac I've ever sniffed. The palate is dense with flavor.  It comes on sweet then gets some of those chocolate notes with dried fruit underneath.  Then it turns to a bourbon like sweet and spicy mix with lots of big, earthy notes leading into a finish that is fruity on the nose but spicy on the palate.  A few drops of water has a big impact, adding some clove and anise on the nose and lots of spice on the palate.

The flavors here are much more akin to an Armagnac than most Cognacs I've had.  There is lots of spice and much less fruit than the typical Cognac.  It's wonderful, unique stuff with a lot going on.  I keep tasting it, and I keep getting new flavors.

I've howled for years about how I'd love to see higher proof, single cask offerings from Cognac, and it's great to see that we're finally getting one.

This is so complex, oaky and spicy that it will be great for whiskey geeks.  Miss out on BTAC this year? Grab one of these.  Right now, it's available at Astor Wines for $150, and I'm told, it will soon be at K&L as well for $130.

New K&L Cognacs

This is the third day of my review of the new brandies from K&L.  On the first and second days I covered Armagnacs.  Today we look at some of their new Cognac selections.  Thanks to K&L for the samples.


Michael Forgeron

Michael Forgeron is a producer in the Grande Champagne Region of Cognac.  K&L brought in three bottles this year.

Michael Forgeron VS, 40% abv ($40)

The nose is fruity and sweet with apples and pears.  The palate is very light and fruity with some nice, slightly Scotch like malty notes in the back.  The finish adds a touch of spice (cloves).  Overall, this one is pleasant but pretty forgettable, though it's certainly a good deal for the price.

Michael Forgeron VSOP, 43% abv ($60)

This has a very light nose with light fruity and spice.  The flavor on this one is much less sweet than the VS.  It's got some nice complexity on the palate, a slight bitter note, some right like spice.  The finish is light on flavor but a bit peppery.

Michael Forgeron XO, 45% abv ($100)

According to K&L, the XO is a marriage of Cognacs dating from 1982 to 1993. It has a very caramelly nose. The palate is sweet and syrupy with just a slight peppery spice tat lasts in the finish.

I wasn't particularly excited by any of these, but I thought the VSOP was the strongest.  It had a complexity that the other two lacked.


In addition to the Michael Forgeron series, K&L has two vintage dated Cognacs.

2002 Claude Thorin Cognac, 12 yo, 40% abv ($60)

This Grande Champagne Cognac has a light, crisp nose of apples and pears.  The palate is sweet and fruity with cloves and cinnamon like a mulled cider.  The finish is light and fruity with just a dash of juniper.  This one is sweet, approachable and drinkable.  Looking for a bottle to take to the office Christmas party?  You just found it.


1996 Giboin Fin Bois Cognac, 40% abv ($55)

Giboin is from the Fin Bois region.  The nose is lightly fruity with dried fruit and potpourri. The palate has cinnamon, clove and sweet, fruity notes.  The finish is sweet and slightly spicy.  This is another super-drinkable Cognac.


Conclusion

Both the Giboin and the Claude Thorin are just great, crowd pleasing brandies.  They aren't big complex monsters like the Armagnacs from earlier this week.  They're liquid candy, fun to drink and delicious.  I'd say I slightly prefer the Throin, but both are great fun.

I was less interested in the Forgerons.  They weren't at all offensive.  I just found them bland and uninteresting.

The last three days of tastings shows yet again that K&L is really at the forefront of brandy in the US.  They picked some amazing stuff, and the prices are fantastic.  There's definitely something here for everyone. 

Navarre Pineau des Charentes Vieux

Pineau des Charentes is a fortified wine made by adding Cognac to grape juice.  I was first introduced to it by Nicholas Palazzi's Paul-Marie Fils Pineau des Charentes which uses aged Cognac as opposed to the typical unaged eau de vie.

I very much enjoyed the Cognac I tried from Navarre, so I was excited to see they had a Pineau  on the market. Like the Paul-Marie Fils, the Navarre Pineau uses aged Cognac.  A six year old, 1982 Cognac was added to the wine.  The Pineau was then aged an additional 30 years and bottled in 2012.

Navarre Pineau des Charentes Vieux, 17% abv ($70)

This Pineau has some fantastic, complex flavors with heavy sweet syrupy notes rushing in first, followed by the aged Cognac with its earthy notes.  The flavor combination works well, but it's far too sweet for me to take it neat, cutting it is a necessity.

Mixing one part Pineau with two parts club soda makes about the best spritzer I've ever tasted.  The two to one ratio mellows the sweetness without compromising any of the earthy qualities.  It's insanely refreshing and very light, the perfect drink for a summer afternoon.

Cognac Navarre Vieille Reserve

Navarre is a small grower/producer from the Grand Champagne region of Cognac. They harvest grapes by hand, which is unusual in this day and age and don't use additives of any sort. The Vieille Reserve is made from 100% Ugni Blanc grapes and bottled at cask strength. The vatting includes brandies as much as 50 years old.

Navarre Vieille Reserve Cognac, 45% abv ($200)

The nose on this is fantastic with rich, dry wine, green grapes, wood, earthy notes and some raisins.  The palate starts with dry wine, transitions to a somewhat bitter, oaky, earthiness, then recovers with spicy, peppery and then earthy notes.  The finish is spicy and a bit bitter with table grapes.

I'm normally quite sensitive to bitterness, but the bitter notes in this Cognac work to complement the spirit, almost like in an Italian bitter like Campari.  Between those notes, the grape and the oak, there's a level of complexity that makes this really interesting.  It's one of those that continues to reveal itself with each taste.

This is a wonderful and intriguing Cognac.  It's old and rare but seems to be available at a number of major US retailers.  If it's in your price range and you are a fan of edgier Cognac, I would definitely pick it up.

Cognac Comandon

This is another from last year's K&L Exclusive series.  They originally had it priced at $120 bur recently lowered it to $100.  Given this big price cut, I thought it would be a good time to review it (though chump that I am, I bought it at the original price).

This Cognac Comandon is that most unusual thing, a cask strength, single barrel Cognac. A Borderies Region Cognac, this Comandon is 18 years old.

Cognac Comandon XO 18 years old, Barrel #524, K&L Exclusive, 45% abv ($100)

This has a beautiful nose with apples and spice and maybe a touch of mustiness like a damp, fall day.  The palate comes on candy sweet, then picks up a bit of spice and ends on a drier, spicier note.  The fruit on the nose isn't apparent on the palate.  The sweetness on the palate is sort of a generic sweetness more than a fruit sweetness.  The finish is spicy with just a slight bitterness.

This Cognac had a promising nose, but I felt the palate didn't follow through and was overly sweet.  I prefer K&L's Famille Esteve Coup de Coeur, which is $10 less than even the reduced price of the Comandon.

Daniel Bouju Cognac

Having done a number of Cognac reviews in the past, I've been focusing on Armagnac during this series, but I did want to feature one Cognac that has piqued my interest and seems to be highly regarded. Daniel Bouju is a small grower/producer in the Grande Champagne region of Cognac. It seems that much of their Cognac isn't available in the U.S. or is very hard to find, but I was able to get some samples from a friend. Like many of the Armagnacs I tasted last week, the Bouju Cognacs exhibit a bolder flavor profile than the typical syrupy sweetness that we find in many Cognacs.

Bouju claims that they don't use any additives or caramel, but these things are all as black as night which certainly makes me suspicious. They don't carry any age statement, but I'm told that the Royal is 15 years old, the Extra is 35 years old and the Tres Vieux is 40 years old. The Royal and the Tres Vieux are cask strength (brut de fut).


Daniel Bouju Royal, 60% abv

The nose is dry and a bit musty. On the palate, there's an initial sweetness yielding to a dry palate, some spice and some of the mustiness from the nose as well as some medicinal notes. The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy. The finish is peppery. This tastes like some kind of Cognac concentrate, thick and rich and syrupy.


Daniel Bouju Extra, 40% abv

The nose is quite spicy with fruit underneath. The palate is sweet with freshly dried prunes, raisins and ends in spice which joins the prunes in the finish with just a touch of bitterness.


Daniel Bouju Tres Vieux, 50% abv

The nose on this is dry and woody, more like a bourbon than a Cognac. On the palate, it comes on astringent, though not in a bad way, with a fair amount of acid as well as spicy tobacco notes, yielding to some fruit, then menthol. The fruit comes back for the finish, mixed with some spice, then trails off with a palate numbing menthol.


After all of that Armagnac, I had to adjust to the sweetness of these, though they are not as sweet as most Cognacs. Of these three, I most enjoyed the Royal, with it's concentrated flavor, but also liked the Tres Vieux which had a lot going on but may not have had as many high notes. I didn't care as much for the Extra, which was overly bitter on the finish. All of these are very intense such that a little goes a long way.

The World of Brandy Producers

For Scotch fans used to the idea of single malts vs. blends, we need to adjust our thinking when thinking about brandy.

Cognac is filled with small and medium sized grape growers, many of whom grow grapes and then hire someone to come and distill their grapes into brandy. Very few of these growers market their own brandy. Instead, the big brands have contracts with these small producers to buy their brandy for use in their brands, much like a blended Scotch whisky, though the term "blended" doesn't seem to be used in brandy. While some of the big name houses have distilleries, most of those in-house operations produce only a fraction of their brandy; they buy the rest from smaller growers. Even many smaller, more upscale brands, like Delemain, are blenders who buy brandy on contract.

Unlike Scotch, in which many distilleries make a single malt as well as selling their whisky for use in blends, most of the small growers don't sell their brandy under a private label. It all gets sold to the big houses.

In Cognac, which is dominated by the four big houses of Remy Martin, Hennessy, Courvoisier and Martell, this system can deter more innovative approaches. As brandy importer/bottler Nicolas Palazzi told me:

Right now in Cognac, there are small guys who would want to go fully on their own but are kind of split because keeping contracts with big houses makes the future more secure. But a younger generation is taking over their families' estates and seem to be more in tune with the drinkers so this will help.

This is another aspect in which brandy today is comparable to whiskey 15 or 20 years ago. The Scotch export market was almost all blends until the 1980s, when single malts started creeping in. Palazzi and a few others are acting as independent bottlers and releasing some of this grower-produced brandy that otherwise only goes into blends. Another way to taste smaller producers is through Armagnac, which has fewer big blenders. Starting next week, I'll be sampling some Armagnacs from K&L's exclusive small producer bottlings as well as some other interesting brandies from smaller producers.

Brandy Friday: Famille Esteve Cognac

Back in January, the K&L Dynamic Duo of Davids, spirits buyers David Driscoll and David Othenin-Girard, traveled to France to hunt down brandies to use for exclusive K&L bottlings. They ended up with more than a dozen from the small distillers of Cognac and Armagnac. The first one I tried from this selection was the Famille Esteve Selection Coup de Coeur, a Cognac which is a vatting of vintages from 1979 and 1981. You can find a description of the Daves' visit to the basement distillery at the K&L Spirits Journal.


Famille Esteve Selection Coup de Coeur, K&L Exclusive Bottling, 40% abv ($90)

The nose has that deep, Cognac fruit with white grape juice and raisins, but also some nice wood notes. The palate is fruity but not too sweet with a lot of spice notes. It starts with sweet wine but develops with some pepper and maybe a hint of clove. The finish has light fruit on the nose and pepper on the palate.

This is a really nice Cognac with a good amount of complexity and a nice balance of sweetness and spice. At $90, this is a huge deal.

Jazz Age Brandy: Nicolas Palazzi's Cognac Tasting

On Monday night I attended a stunning Cognac tasting hosted by K&L at the La Descarga rum bar, featuring Cognac bottler Nicolas Palazzi. As you may recall, Palazzi is a Cognac bottler who seeks out small growers and bottles cask strength, unfiltered Cognacs with no additives. He is truly a pioneer in the Cognac world who is trying single handedly to move it away from the sticky, sweet brandies that most of us associate with Cognac.

We started the night with a sazerac cocktail made from Paul Beau VSOP Cognac (while the sazerac now usually features rye, the original recipe used Cognac). I'm a big fan of sazeracs so no complaints here, but in a tasting I would usually save a cocktail until later, especially one which includes Absinthe, which can deaden the taste buds.

To demonstrate the difference made by filtration, we moved on to a Paul Beau Hors D’Age, which is distilled "off the lees," meaning it is filtered to remove residual dead yeast. We tasted this side by side with a Guillon Painturaud Hors d’Age which is distilled "on the lees" or unfiltered. Lees contact is said to add richness, body, and flavor to the spirit. I did find that the unfiltered Cognac had more going on flavor wise, including a spicy character, but the filtered Cognac was more delicate and subtle.

We ended with a trio of Nicolas' cask strength, single barrel Cognacs under his Paul Marie & Fils label, beginning with the recent K&L exclusive which I reviewed here. We then moved on to his 58 year old Devant La Porte (51% abv) and finally, the L'Artisan, which was distilled in 1923 (41.6% abv). These three were utterly fantastic Cognacs.

One advantage that Cognac has over whiskey is that there seem to be more really old barrels out there. The 1923 was moved out of barrel last year, so this was in wood for 87 years (the oldest whiskey that has been released is 70 years old). Remarkably for having spent a human lifetime in wood, the Cognac was incredibly fruity with very distinct grape notes. In fact, the dominance of the fruit was such that it came off as lacking in complexity, but it was not over oaked.

My favorite of the night was the 58 year old. Distilled in 1951, the Devant La Porte was released last year and goes for around $600. It was fruity but had some wood and complex, caramel notes; it was probably the most whiskey-like of the Cognacs.

The problem with many spirits tastings is that they cover only widely available, basic spirits lines. It is difficult to find tastings featuring very rare spirits. For the $70 cost of this tasting, we got a chance to try some truly rare and remarkable Cognacs. Nicolas Palazzi and K&L Spirit Buyer David Girard really pulled out all the stops. Let's hope we see more of these types of tastings in LA.

Brandy Friday: Nicolas Palazzi's Cognac Mission

I've done a number of Brandy Friday posts over the years, but I haven't stuck to brandy the way I have to whiskey. Part of the problem is the state of Cognac, the premiere brandy. Too much of the Cognac from the big houses is syrupy sweet, and even the best Cognacs have a certain simplicity to them. Added caramel is a given with most Cognac, added sugar is common and very few are released above 40% abv. After my first series of Cognac tastings on the blog, I opined that Cognac was behind the curve compared to whiskey with regard to additives and abv.

But Nicolas Palazzi aims to change all of that. Palazzi is a brandy importer and independent bottler. Born into a wine making family and raised in Bordeaux, he operates PM Spirits in New York, making regular trips back to France to hunt for Cognacs from small producers which he bottles under his Paul-Marie & Fils label. Through buying his own casks, Palazzi is able to release them the way he wants to: single barrel, cask strength and unfiltered. And he doesn't use added sugar, caramel or wood additives (boise) which are common in Cognac production; says Palazzi, "I despise those things."

Suddenly, Cognac is catching up to where whiskey has been for years. Palazzi's first special release for K&L Wines, one of the retailers he works with regularly, was a 58 year old vintage 1951 Cognac that weighed in at $600. Impressive sounding, but at a price that most of us can't afford. Luckily, there were more reasonably priced options to come. Palazzi's latest Cognac for K&L is $130, still expensive, but not outrageous.

There are 200 bottles of this new K&L exclusive. It comes from from the Borderies zone of Cognac, and while there is no age statement, K&L says that it is an XO (XO indicates at least six years old - but I'd guess this is significantly older).

Paul-Marie & Fils Cognac, Faultline Spirits (K&L Wine), 200 bottles, 61% abv ($130 exclusively at K&L)

The nose on this is bursting with fruit, but not just traditional grape/wine notes; there are apples and pears as well and some nice spice in the background. The palate is even more lush with mulling spices, cloves, even some sweet orange, all painted on a canvass of bourbony oak with some pine and fir to boot. Gone is the syrupy sweetness that many Cognacs push to the fore. Instead, there are complex notes of spice and herb. This is a whiskey lover's Cognac if ever there was one, and while it's cask strength, it goes down very easy. A drop of water, as is often the case, brings out the sugar, but makes it lose some of the balance. Drink it neat! The finish is well balanced with sweet wine and oak and then a slight vegetal note, maybe tobacco.

This is a pretty extraordinary Cognac and if you like whiskey, and bourbon in particular, you should give it a try.

I had largely given up on Cognac as anything other than a pleasant but simplistic night cap. Now my interest is piqued. Cognac may finally be getting it.

Brandy Friday: Brandy Gifts

I don't review as many brandies as whiskeys, but I wanted to make note of a few that would make good holiday gifts for those of you who like your brandy sans the egg nog.

Cognac: If you like variety, you will have great fun with the Delamain Sampler which includes three 200 ml bottles of the basic expressions of Delemain Cognac. Given that you would have to pay more than $400 for full bottles of these three brandies, this is a great chance to sample the major offerings from one of the most popular Cognac bottlers.

Apple Brandy: For something totally different, I'd recommend the excellent apple brandy from Germain-Robin in Mendocino County. This Calvados-style brandy has a beautiful aroma of fresh apples but without too much sweetness. It retails for around $65.

Budget Brandy: Cognac doesn't come cheap, but there are few better deals than Jean Fillioux's Balzac VSOP. Fillioux is one of the great remaining small Cognac houses and the Balzac, at $35, is a fantastic brandy and is one of the best deals on any spirit.

Happy holidays!

Brandy Friday: Delamain Cognac

It's been a while since we had a Brandy Friday, but now that we are heading into fall, I thought it would be a good time to taste some Cognac.

Delamain is a Cognac firm founded by an Irishman in 1762 which is still family owned. Delamain is a negociant (what we would call in whiskey an independent bottler) which means they purchase and bottle Cognac but do not distill it themselves. They specialize in very aged Cognacs and have been dealing with some of their source distillers for over a century.

I tried three of the Delamain series, all of which are 40% alcohol and made from brandies from the Grand Champagne region. The prices listed below are for 750 ml bottles, but the sampler pictured above contains 200 ml bottles of each brandy. I don't know if the sampler is still being made, but last time I checked, it was still on the shelf at Wine & Liquor Depot for around $90, which as you can see from the prices below, is a great deal.

Delamain Pale & Dry XO ($80).

This is actually the youngest Cognac in the Delamain line. The nose is light and fruity with raisin notes. I was expecting sweetness based on the nose but the palate is surprisingly dry and a bit oaky with some sweetness on the tail.
After a promising nose, it's a bit flat.


Delamain Vesper ($135).

This one has a rich, beautiful nose with a great balance of fruit (grape and pear) and oak, comparable to a great Bourbon nose. The palate on this one starts with sweet caramel and then strong, acidic, fruity notes which continue to develop into the finish. This one is extremely drinkable.


Delamain Tres Venerable ($270)

Even richer in the nose than the Vespers, the Tres Venerable nose is sweet but less fruity with some good oak and polished wood character. The palate is delicate with a strong wine grape flavor and then sweetness; wood comes out on the finish. This one has a very nice balance of fruit, sugar and wood and keeps calling me back for more.


I wasn't thrilled with the XO but very much enjoyed the Delamain Vespers and Tres Venerable. However, on a price to quality ratio, you'd probably be better off with a Germain-Robin or Jean Fillioux. If you do want to experience the Delamains, the sampler is definitely a good way to go.

Brandy Friday: Bang for Your Buck Brandy -- Fillioux Cognac Balzac VSOP

In an age of inflated spirit prices, there is something wonderful about a great drink at a good price. Jean Fillioux is one of my favorite Cognac houses, and I can't say I've ever had one of their brandies that I didn't love. At $35 to $40, though, the Fillioux Balzac VSOP is probably the best bang for your buck in the world of Cognac. Like most Fillioux brandies, the nose is pure Cognac -- what else is there to say? The flavor is rich and sweet, less wine like than some Cognacs, but fruity nonetheless. This is a smooth drinker, and one of the best deals around, so rest assured that drinking well doesn't have to mean breaking the bank.

Now, if you want to spend an excessive amount of money, tune in for the next Whiskey Wednesday, and I'll help you out.

Brandy Friday: Wrap Up

For our ninth Brandy Friday, we will do a bit of a wrap up. I've had great fun reading up on brandy and tasting seven Cognacs, an Armagnac and a California brandy. Here are a few conclusions I've drawn in this little flight of ours.


Brandy is Behind the Curve

We acknowledged when we started that brandy had some catching up to do compared to other premium spirits, and the stranglehold of the big four Cognac houses has yet to be undone by the little guys. Even for the small houses making excellent product, though, there are some innovations coming from the whiskey world that they might want to consider.


Nix the Caramel

Caramel coloring is used in nearly all fine brandy. I understand the desire to use it. One producer told me that consumers who see two bottles of the same brandy that are not the same color will be turned off. That may be true, but whiskey consumers have become educated on this point and while most Scotch is still colored, there has been an increase in naturally colored Scotch over the past five years, particularly from some of the smaller and more innovative distilleries. Straight bourbons and ryes, of course, are never colored.


Journey North of 40%

Nearly all fine brandy is bottled at 40% alcohol or just above. I've heard tell of cask strength brandies, but they are few and far between. It would be interesting to see some of the Cognac houses give us a bit higher abv to sharpen and intensify the taste.


Beyond Cognac

I focused this series on Cognac, but I was intrigued by the one Armagnac I sampled, so I'm making a note to add some more Armagnacs to my list. Then, there are Spanish, Armenian and more California brandies to explore...so many brandies, so little time.


Brandy Friday has been a real kick, and it will continue as an occasional series on Fridays, though unlike our Whiskey Wednesdays, we won't do it every week. And as always, I'm open to tips, samples and any other brandy advice, so let me know if you know of an excellent brandy.