Welcome to Cognac connoisseurs, Wine lovers, and to everybody either intrigued or sceptical about Cognacs!

I hope I can open your minds, I’ll begin by your noses...

Let us make it clear: I will not promote with enthusiasm all the possible ways to drink Cognacs. This is the job of the producers, of the sellers and of the BNIC, the Cognac interprofessional Organization…

I will speak about nosing and tasting.

If you are a wine lover, forget everything…well, almost everything. With Cognacs, you will discover a new way of tasting, other codes, other sensations….Aromas, flavours, textures….a world to explore and decipher.

Spirits lovers? Amateur of malt whiskies, of old rums…the whole thing will not be totally new for you, and yet, the aroma wheel of Cognacs will be a nice surprise to you.

I am not a member of the troops of the “Cognac against Whisky” war: grain spirits, malt whiskies, rums, all represent another world of flavours. But I decided to explore Cognac; living here can help…

New in the community of tasters? Not interested in spirits in principle? You are entering a new universe of sensations, which you cannot even imagine. Because Cognacs have the strength of great perfumes…with the ultimate advantage to be drinkable as great wines!.

Professional? Restaurant-owner? Sommelier ? Are you sure you understand Cognacs? Do you know the tasting clues? Can you put words on your sensations?

Tasting Cognacs is not evident. The real keys to decipher them are not spread as widely as in the case of wines; many secrets are kept in the cellars, the making process is so complex in fact that from time to time you feel totally puzzled and to make it even worse, the classification of Cognacs is really…nebulous!

And to complicate matters it is easy to have misconceptions about Cognacs.

A small quiz: right or wrong?

1) tasting spirits is more difficult than tasting wines
2) if you want to be sure to buy an old Cognac, just select the darkest
3) the best glasses for Cognacs are the big snifters
4) you must heat your Cognac before tasting it
5) a Cognac labelled «Reserve” is older than a “VSOP”
6) if a Cognac has been bottled in 1970, it’s more than 30 years old, it’s evident!
7) a Cognac labelled « Hors d’Age » is older than 40 years
8) all Cognacs in the same category (VS/VSOP/XO…) are similar
9) “Grande Champagne» is called “Grande” because it is the widest of the sub regions in Cognac producing area
10) In Cognac, nowadays, people are mad about new barrels Answer: everything is wrong

 

So, a few indications can be useful...