Cognac Review: Hennessy XO - Extra Old

Cognac Review: Hennessy XO

Nose
Rum cake, raisins, cinnamon, spices and nutmeg.

Palate 
Red licorice, cinnamon, cloves, milk chocolate and hazelnuts.

Finish
Long, black pepper accented red fruits like strawberries, currants adorn a backbone of Swiss milk chocolate.

Conclusion
Highly recommended cognac.  I like this better than Remy Martin XO or Courvoisier XO.

PS. In this review I state the age of the eau de vie used in this cognac range from 10 to 70 years and the average age of eau de vie is 45 years.  I am not sure that claim is legit anymore.  Here is the website where I saw that claim:  https://blog.cognac-expert.com/hennessy-xo-review-henny-tasting/comment-page-1/#comment-174558

I have left a comment asking them to advise.

This is the downfall of my unscripted and unedited reviews.

All the best,


Jason

Cognac Review: Courvoisier VS Cognac

In a previous Cognac review that I posted to You Tube, I said that VS grade Cognac was terrible stuff neat, and only suitable as a base of a cocktail.  When I made that declaration, it had been over a decade since I last had VS grade Cognac.  But, I now have the benefit of ten years of spirits wisdom and having revisited VS Cognac, I am haunted by the words of Winston Churchill:

          "In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my
           own words, and I must confess I have always
           found it a wholesome diet."

I think his observation of himself applies equally to me.  Read on friend.

. . .

Category
Cognac.  A fancy term that simply means distilled wine (eau de vie) which is subsequently aged in French oak for a period of years dependent upon the grade.  VS (Very Special) grade cognac must be aged for a minimum of 2 years.

Price
Reasonable and affordable.

Closure
Cork stopper.

Age Statement
None, but this VS grade Cognac is made up of 3-7 years old brandies.

Format
750 ml.

ABV
40%.

Nose (undiluted)
A bit of faint alcohol that I liken to pears.  Garden fresh mint.  Damp earth.  Loam.

Palate (undiluted)
Sweet initially, milk chocolate, becoming mint chocolate, orange rind, thyme and good, young oak.

Finish (undiluted)
Spring water, white cake, apricot, tarragon, summer savory and black teas.  Tannins.

General Impressions

The conventional wisdom is that VS grade Cognac is inferior to VSOP and XO grades.

I beg to differ.

VSOP and XO are certainly smoother, and I will accept that the XO does deliver some complexity of flavor missing in the VS.  But!  On a value for money basis, the VS reigns supreme.  VS has some bite, but a playful hickey of flavors that challenges you with foreign spices (e.g. summer savory), Vichy water, and a spoilt funkiness that is simultaneously off-putting and endearing.

If you are a newbie to whiskies, I suspect that the youthfulness of VS with its funkiness will put you off.  A newbie to whisky, who likes blends, will enjoy the VSOP and certainly the XO level, as such a consumer seeks smooth delivery and refinement of flavors.

For the experienced whisky tramp like me, I get more kicks out of the VS than the VSOP or the XO.  I find the XO particularly boring.  Of course it tastes good, pleasant, and refined, but a little too boring.  When I factor in the crazy price, I am thinking for a third of the cost I can get similar Swiss milk chocolate flavors from a 12 year old Scotch or Irish Whiskey (Jameson 12 comes to mind).

There is a considerable leap in smoothing out of flavors when you go from VS to VSOP, that is reflected in a higher price.  Fair enough.  Pay $20 more or thereabouts and you have a VSOP.  However, the same cannot be said for the price jump between VSOP and XO grades of Cognac.  XO is about 2.5 times the price of VSOP where I live.  Crazy since there is not 2.5 times the quality.

As a whisky drinker, I prefer the VS because it is lively and more challenging than the VSOP or XO, which are simply great drinks of milk chocolate and orange rind without the Vichy water and summer savory that you get at the VS grade.  In a word, VSOP and XO are a bit boring.  VS challenges me.  It is defiant.  And I like that.

Cheers!


Jason Debly

Note:  Quote of Winston Churchill taken from a biography written by Ashley Jackson, page 4, "Churchill" published by Quercus, 2011.

Cognac Review: Rémy Martin XO

Rémy Martin XO
"XO" stands for 'extra old.'  Specifically, no eau-de-vie (distilled wine) making up this spirit is less than 10 years old.  In fact, Rémy Martin XO is comprised of eau-de-vie that ranges from 10yrs - 37yrs and is a blend of 400 eau-de-vie, which has been aged in French oak.

Closure
Natural cork.

ABV
40%

Format
750ml

Price
Expensive

Production Note
85% Grande Champagne eau-de-vie.

Nose (undiluted)
Complexity abounds with notes of raising, red wine, saddle leather, dry leaves, roses and peonies.

Palate (undiluted)
Smooth, rich entry of strawberries, orange spice, vanilla, dark plums and a little Canadian maple sugar.

Finish (undiluted)
Good length leaving mellow cinnamon, cardamom tea, drying oak.

General Impressions
As one of my viewers astutely pointed out, Scotch whisky and other whisky fans are probably going to find the flavor profile of cognac rather muted.  It is less, how shall we say, spicy and vibrant than single malts and say other whiskies like bourbon.  So, adjust your expectations if you want to try Cognac.  It is much smoother.

That being said, it is enjoyable and is a big step up from the VSOP level.  This spirit is balanced, dry, and profoundly drinkable, especially when paired with dark chocolate or a great cigar.

Cheers!


Jason Debly

My Rémy Martin Bottle Speaks!

Bonjour Jason,

It gets lonely here on mantel with zee other bottles.  Bourbons are enough friendly, but I find zose guys from Islay and other Scottish Isles to be real snobs.  Zey are cold and distant like zeir geography.  Thinks zeir malted barley don't ahh how you say?  Stink?  Of course it does stink of peat bogs, decay and bad manners.

I understand that you're proud of daughter's graduation of high school, but placing framed photo to front of me makes my view of zee TV impossible.

Speaking of télévision, I see that you Canadians are az uncultured az your mouth breathing brethren to south.  Between reruns of Trailer Park Boys, PokerStars and 2 Broke Girls, I am convinced that you are culturally deprived or should I zay depraved?  No doubt both apply where you are concerned.  Nevertheless, I have edifying antidote.  Turn to channel 423 "Classic French Cinema" you silly little, unimportant man.  Watch Bob Le Flambeur (1956) three times followed by all of Jean Pierre Melville's other films and zen I will resume speaking to you.

Your wife iz French.

She iz  . . . how you zay . . . your only qualidee redeeming.

I like her.

Mais, when she lights candles here on mantel, it gets rather warm and G-d forbid she gets ignites fireplace.  Blameless she is, as she not put me here to show off.  You did, you stupide, petit bourgeoisie cochon.  I belong in honor place, top shelf of your cabinet of liquorz, at right hand of G-d: Remy Martin XO!

I like Jewish people much.

You know why?  Because zey do not celebrate Christmas.  So, here iz a note to your-stupide-self: do not string holiday garland around me or suspend from my neck a North Pole Elf who chokes me!  Elf on zee Shelf belongs on Shelf!  Fool!  By way, don't even think of converting.  Zee Jews would never have you.

Your elderly Chinese neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Chen, I very much like.  Have you notice zey always ask about me?  This because zey know good character!  I can tell.  Mrs. Chen can't take her eyes off me, unless Highness-on-High, XO, makes an appearance.

Rémy Martin VSOP

Category
Cognac

Closure
Cork

ABV
40%

Nose (undiluted)
Complex orange blossom, very ripe Moroccan tangerines, very floral notes of violets, roses, vanilla and mulled wine.

Palate (undiluted)
Oranges, tangerines, spiced rose water, Australian red licorice, cardamon, dry apricot. Rum cake.

Finish (undiluted)
Dry oak, vanilla and bittersweet dark chocolate, pencil lead.

. . .

Contrary to opinions of bourgeoisie (all other whiskies on zis shelf), I am superior spirit, distilled from noble, acidic white grapes rather than coarse and stillborn barley, and other lesser grains that belong in a morning cereal or seven grain bread, you silly little Anglo-jambon of a man whiz your bad teeth, inferior cuisine and unfashionable vêtements.

Au revoir,



Monsieur Rémy Martin

Review: Hennessy V.S.O.P. Cognac

Creepy, eh?

It's a Belgian castle in ruins that plucky tourists seeking dangerous urban adventure like to explore at their own risk.

I stared at this castle and strangely it reminded me of a frightening experience from my past:  a cheap bottle of brandy.  At a time in my life when I was young and stupid (not much different from the present) and during my initial exploration of whiskies, I bought the cheapest bottle of brandy I could find.  I had read about brandy and cognac (a type of brandy) and wanted to know if it would lift my spirits?  Instead, this amber liquid would haunt me for a very long time.

Creepier!

I was in Boston or Halifax.  I really can't remember.  Well, I do recollect it was wickedly cold, windy and pitch black evening .  Still it could have been either city, but nevertheless, I ventured from my hotel into a slanting cold rain that made my ancient waxed Barbour smell more pungent, and  caused me to stiffen up like a corpse, as any normal body movement like walking promoted the rain to seep through to the inside of my jacket.

I wandered for quite a while until I found a rundown liquor store where I bought a couple different bottles, and this plastic bottle of Chemineaud 'Fine Brandy' with the twist-off cap.  It was Boston in November!  I remember it was a little way from the fancy homes of Beacon Hill.  Lurch, the guy behind the counter, actually asked me for ID even though I was probably 40 at the time.  Strange I thought and shuddered as to the real reason why he wanted to see my ID.

I sloshed my way back to the hotel, under the silver flicker of street lights, howling wind bent trees, through the stony stares of the homeless, and passed taxi drivers who pretended not to see me.  As I splashed through puddles, clutching my quickly disintegrating brown paper bag, my thoughts drifted to Edgar Allen Poe and how he was found dead in a gutter much like the one adjacent to the street I was crossing.  But, then I remembered that Poe died in Baltimore and I was in Boston and not a celebrated poet.

Back at the ironically named Liberty Hotel, which had formerly been a mid-19th century prison, I managed to return to my room without first being wrestled to the lobby floor by security.

I peeled off my Barbour, sat down at the hotel room's 'business' desk with faux banker's lamp, reached for a plastic cup, poured some 'fine brandy' took a sniff and was hit with a strong billy-club of alcohol.  I took a pull and my gag reflex quickly engaged as I tried to swallow.  It was boozy.  'Boozy' is the exact word.  Think rummy who lives in the woods, under a train bridge or is a tenured windbag professor in a worn Donegal tweed jacket with bony/nicotine stained fingers gesticulating wildly and you know what I mean.

The brandy was hot, ill-tempered and tasted of spoiled sherry.  Ughh, it can't be that bad, so again I took another sip and it was worse than the first, but a wave of warmth washed over me much like as a kid that first heave of car sickness during the stifling hot car drive to Grandmas or the heat and burn one feels before losing control of one's bowels in the midst of Bangkok traffic gridlock while riding in a rickshaw.  Damn that overly friendly street vendor's pad thai!

Subsequent sips were no better.  I tossed the plastic bottle into the sink and switched to McCallan 12 and all was well with the world.

After my misadventure with brandy in Boston, I avoided the spirit for 13 years or so, until last week.

 Last week I was in Ottawa for work.  I met up with Adam, an impeccably dressed and cultured fellow who blogs on culture, art and food.  We are opposites, he is erudite, I am plebian.  He is diplomatic, I often lack an internal filter when speaking, and we had actually never met in person, only online, trading emails and comments on each other's blogs.  So, I was not sure how things would go over dinner at a fashionable wine bar.  Real life and the online life do not always align as we wish.

Deciding what bottle of red for dinner spurred a conversation that lasted 2 1/2 hours over rustic Italian/French food.  Dinner over, wine bottle empty, it was time for a spirit.  Whisky?  Maybe.  I glanced over the spirits list and saw little that excited me.  Ballantine's?  Never.  Chivas 12.  I can't.  Simply to light and apple-like after the meal we just had.  It had to be heavy.  There was nothing and then I spied "Cognac."  The evening had gone well.  Did I want to ruin it with nasty brandy/cognac?  The food had been great, ambience excellent, risk it all on bad cognac?  Well, inexplicably I did, as if I had been possessed by some ghost of great cognac past, and ordered Hennessy V.S.O.P.

ABV
40%

Age Statement
None, but the company says the eau de vie making up this cognac are aged a minimum of 4 years, and others that are certainly much older.

Nose (undiluted)
Old wood, varnish, leather, black licorice.

Palate (undiluted)
Rounded, soft, viscous texture delivering spiced molasses, slight hint of pomegranate, dark chocolate, honey and stewed prunes.

Finish (undiluted)
Oak, strawberries, milk chocolate and earth.  I taste the terroir of the white wines that were distilled.  Drying brown sugar/English fruit cake that is powerful and stays with you, providing warmth and flavor.  Long finish with a sweetness that returns.

General Impressions
Cognac is a long lost cousin to Scotch whisky.  Cognac is very dry and acidic white wine that has been distilled twice in copper stills, and then blended with other eau de vive and aged in French oak. When the distillate goes into barrels it is colorless and acquires its color and flavors from the wood. The result is similar to whisky but different.  Very interesting.  Kind of reminds me of good sipping rums but more complex.

On the issue of complexity, there is an interesting weaving of flavors.  Maybe not as complex as many single malts, but interesting nonetheless.

For those of you who smoke cigars, Hennessy V.S.O.P. would compliment a Connecticut wrapper very well.  I am thinking CAO Gold, The Griffin's, Perdomo Champagne, Nat Shermans or a discontinued Winston Churchill "Chequers."

Hennesy V.S.O.P. is most impressive on its finish.  The flavors last a long time and there is some definite warmth that is not common to Scotch whiskies, making for an interesting and delightful change.

This is not a cheap spirit.  For the price you are assured smooth initial tastes of chocolates and fruit with honey and by the time of the finish, some orange rind and warmth that lasts.  It is really a welcome drink in cold weather.  Many a great fire side chat can start with a dram of this spirit.  If you are a newbie to whiskies or cognac, do not be afraid, this spirit is far more friendly than the ones inhabiting the Miranda Castle pictured at the beginning of this post.

Cheers!



Jason Debly



P.S.  If you do not like fruit cake, rum cake and prune/molasses like notes in your spirits drink, then do not invest in a bottle.  Buy a dram and evaluate.  I think cognac is not for everyone who is an ardent single malt fan seeking a complexity that only Scottish barley can deliver.  Moreover, it is sweeter than the average single malt, and if you are not a fan of a sweet finish, again this cognac may not be for you.  Buy a glass, evaluate and comment below.  Thank you for reading!