Tag Archives: Mac Andrew’s Cognac Guide
A new Cognac Guide is out!
After publishing guides about the famous french brandy in French, Chinese, and Russian, the publishing house Class Multimedia finally brings us an English version. The guide features an embracing list of Cognac producers, form the famous brands like Hennessy, Remy Martin, Courvoisier, and Martell to medium scale one such as Meukow, Louis Royer (who might soon be sold off to the Philippines according the media gossip), J. Dupont (brainchild of Remi Boinaud of Cognac De Luze), or Francois Voyer.
We just got...
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More on Blended vs. Single Cru Cognacs – Cognac Guide
Mac A Andrew's Cognac Guide
The big houses (Hennessy, Martell, Remy Martin, and Courvoisier) own about 80% of the world-wide Cognac market but they no longer own significant vineyards. They buy eaux-de-vie from viticulteurs through buying organisations such as Champaco, the Remy Martin buying group. In most cases, a viticulteur who sells to Hennessy, for example, will always sell to Hennessy. Some exceptions however, do exist. The big houses have certain distilleries under contract, e.g. Distillery Izambard, Camp Romain and Le Peu, which...
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To blend or not to blend? – Cognac Guide: Eaux-de-vie and Cellar Masters
Mac A Andrew's Cognac Guide
Here the classic debate between tradition and economies continues. First of all, there are many producers who do not blend in the classical sense. This means they do not blend eaux-de-vie from different crus, so Grande Champagne is forever Grande Champagne and so on. What they might do is to blend eaux-de-vie from the same cru but from a different year or different vineyard. The purity of the cru is preserved and, in most cases, such...
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All About Age – Cognac Guide: VS, VSOP, XO, Vintages & Co
Mac A Andrew's Cognac Guide
Both blended and single cru cognacs age in an identical manner. What is true, however, is that Grande Champagne eau-de-vie ages slower and Fins Bois ages faster. In other words, an eaux-de-vie from the Grande Champagne terroir will take longer to mature than those from grapes grown in the Fins Bois region.
This difference is reflected in the price of these Cognacs. As you'd expect, those from Grande Champagne command (generally) a higher price.
VS, VSOP, XO,...
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The Fun Really Begins – Cognac Guide: The Ageing Process
Mac A Andrew's Cognac Guide
There are no rules to this next step in making Cognac, which is an exception in this over-regulated industry.
A chais, or ageing warehouse, as it is known in English, is, basically, a building where the Cognac producer stores the casks and produces the final product. Here comes nature again. The location of the chais is important because of the need for humidity, which affects the ageing of Cognac. Same producers such as Hine, Delamain, Tiffon,...
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