as always Martell Gordon Bleau in top 10

De Luze in no 1 pole position ! Well deserved recognition. Thanks to all the brand’s fans.

martell cordon bleu mEtaL

I think A de Fussigny XO has a well deserved number 4 place. The decanter is very stylish and the cognac is so smooth ! next year it will be number one !

I think the dominance of the major brands in this list has more to do with availability and brand awareness than quality. If every cognac were available everywhere, I bet most of these wouldn’t be in this list. Usually when I go to the store in the US, it’s Remy, Courvoisier, Hennessey, Martell, Conjure, and a couple others like Camus or Meukow or Kelt or Hine or Hardy or Landy, most of that VS and VSOP. Rarely you’ll get something like a Ferrand or a Delamain. They’ll typically have maybe three XOs from the Big 4 in a locked case. In a handful of places I’ll find a few less well known ones. But I just never see many of the notable brands we talk about here. Never seen Bache Gabrielsen, ABK6, A. de Fussigny, A.E. Dor, Biskit, Braastad, Grosperin, Pinard, Fillioux, Gourmel, Leyrat, Royer, Giraud, Peyrat, Prunier, Otard (except in airports), Tesseron, just to name a few. Some of these can be found online, but it’s not as easy as browsing in your local shop. I’d love to see better and wider distribution.

I’d also love to see someone start up a sampler/taster mail order business. You’d could order sampler packs of a range of cognacs, particularly the ones you never see in the USA. It could just be a two-dram test tube or a mini bottle and you could order five, ten, 20, whatever. You could do all-XO samplers or all-Borderies samplers or all the offerings from a given house or a small house sampler etc etc. It’s such an expensive hobby and it would be great to be able to get a preview before sinking $100 or more into something that turns out not to be very interesting. I’d love to try basically every brand we’ve ever talked about here, but that would take many thousands of dollars. My favorite one is probably lurking out there amongst the ones I can’t find in the US or am not willing to drop the cash on. Business opportunity, somebody!

I agree with Eric. There are lots of reasons why these top 10 look like this.. the bigger cognac houses are not necessarily the best cognac brands. Still, interesting to see De Luze on top here, and Hennessy on 9th position.

there are so many good xo cognacs, one should do a top 100 list, or at least a top 20 list. of course it would be great to see best vsop, and best vintage cognacs – from a taste point of view. if not here, where then?

I have tried most of these cognacs, and I mean the whole bottle $$.
#5 on this list blows, all the other 9 away in taste!! This includes the four in front of it.

Martell to me, taste like bad and not what great cognac should taste like
camus xo borderies is the smoothest cognac I have ever had, and is interesting
but has a strange taste. it has the most surreal scent!

hennessy xo is VERY smooth and of great quality, smoother then remy xo premire cru, BUT in no way shape or manner taste nearly as great as Remy xo premire cru.
The scent, taste and well the remy martin experience one gets from Remy Louie VIII you get ‘some of’ with it !!!

Meukow I had it is nice for sure, but does have some kick to it an is not a soshiicted cru blend at all.

In fact REMY MARTIN EXTRA $$$, while better then the nine listed here, is to me
not as great as the lower priced Remy Premire Cru!!

Allow it to aerate for at least 30 min, and taste what is possble!!! MAGIC

btw.. bought a bottle of tesseron 29. it was not great at all, and still have half the bottle. (a bad sign, as when trutly great, somehow it disappears soon after acquiring it.) way to many years of over aging, turned a great cognac strange tasting. tesseron 53 was best one.

still stick with remy xo premire cru.

i cant speak for the smaller french brands mentioned above:
Bache Gabrielsen, ABK6, A. de Fussigny, A.E. Dor, Biskit, Braastad, Grosperin, Pinard, Fillioux, Gourmel, Leyrat, Royer, Giraud, Peyrat, Prunier, Otard

but I am thinking, none of them are a remy martin xiii…..