Great cognac for Christmas time

December 21, 2014

Xmas

Malternatives on Sunday,
great cognac for Christmas time

It used to be a tradition in France, people would have presented friends and family with bottles of cognac for Christmas, usually from just any brand, bought in just any shop. It's true that a famous French humorist, Pierre Desproges, used to say in the 1970s that "whisky is the idiot's cognac". Anyway, more boisé and caramel would have changed hands on Christmas day than in the rest of the year, but now that the smaller houses and the real ‘propriétaires’ are really up again, things are changing and people start to discover how great true cognac can be. So let’s not depart from traditions, let’s have a few cognacs! I have to confess I’ve done a bit of pre-selection…

Ragnaud-Sabourin V.S 'Alliance No.4' VS (41%, OB, Grande Champagne, +/-2013)

This should make for a good aperitif, as this family house is highly respected, and as V.S means very young. It’s 100% distilled from ugni blanc. Colour: pale gold. Nose: it is, indeed, a slightly grappa-ish cognac, in a very nice way, bursting with fresh fruits rather than oak-driven… stuff. I find chiefly ripe peaches and golden raisins, with touches of liquorice and marzipan in the aftertaste, as well as dandelions and other flowers from the fields. Very fresh and clean. Mouth: we’re really close to a good Speysider, just with a little more raisins and rather less malt of course, although there is a kind of maltiness. Slightly burnt cake, apricot tarte, a touch of caramel. It’s rather potent cognac in fact, it’s even slightly rough, which works very well. Finish: rather long, with a little honey, marshmallows and a few tannins in the grapier aftertaste. Comments: this baby’s got something of Dalwhinnie, perhaps. Up my alley. SGP:541 - 84 points.

Let’s have one by another very good house…

Daniel Bouju V.S.O.P (40%, OB, Grande Champagne, +/-2013)

This is cognac de propriétaire, all from ugni blanc and integrally from Grande Champagne. Colour: red amber. Nose: this one is very fragrant, it’s got peonies, it’s got a little sandalwood, it’s got old roses… So it’s very floral globally, with also whiffs of pot-pourri, then rather blood oranges and, once again, very ripe peaches. High class. Mouth: it’s still got rough edges, as this baby isn’t old and, apparently, is all matured in new French oak, but I do find the very same flowery and very aromatic notes as in the nose. Rose syrup? Notes of liquorice allsorts, peach liqueur, then more spices but it’s never spicy as such. A little cinnamon and cumin. The liquorice wins in the end. Finish: long given the strength, with a rather imposing oak now. Heavily infused rosehip tea. Comments: lots happening in this little VSOP. It’s a notch less fresh than the Ragnaud-Sabourin, but a little more complex at the same time. Right, same score in my book. SGP:551 - 84 points.

Another VSOP please…

Tiffon

Tiffon 'VSOP' (40%, OB, +/-2013)

Another famous little house, owned by the Braastad family that emigrated from Norway in the 19th century. They own the Braastad brand as well. Colour: amber. Nose: it’s very different from the Bouju, that is to say less aromatic, and much more on polished woods, herbs and nuts. So a drier style for sure, less emphatic, but maybe a notch more elegant. A little mint and a little earth, we’re closer to malt whisky again. In a way! Mouth: once again, the oak’s more apparent, which makes the whole spicier and slightly grittier. Black tea and tobacco, then more oak extracts, pinesap, mint lozenges, more liquorice… So an oakier style globally, but in no way I’d call this ‘too oaky’. Finish: quite long, rather leafy, with apple peelings and walnuts. Comments: high class once again, it’s just a wee bit less my style. We’ll have another, slightly older ;-) Tiffon in a few minutes… SGP:461 - 82 points.

Giboin 1974/2005/2014 (43.1%, OB for La Cagouille, Borderies, Réserve lot n° 1974-2)

Serious stuff, this! The Giboin family are propriétaires in Cherves near Cognac, and they’ve bottled this baby for the rather ‘funny’ seafood restaurant la Cagouille in Paris, where you’ll find a very large cognac cellar (hint, hint). It’s been distilled in 1974, went into demijohns in 2005, and was bottled earlier this year. Colour: amber. Nose: classy older cognac, better rounded, more complex, more elegant. Thrilling notes of maraschino, pecan pie, pineapple flambéed, sultanas, limestone, dried apricots, then a little wormwood and verbena, a touch of fudge, liquorice… In short, a marvellous nose, both coherent and wide. Mouth: a little rougher than expected, with a wee feeling of armagnac, but it tends to come round after just thirty seconds, with wonderful notes of Turkish delights and rosewater, then rather jams and jellies. Such as peach jam again and again. The oak isn’t absent, but all is fine. One can understand why this was poured into demijohns a while back. Finish: rather long, spicier, a little mentholy. Grapy aftertaste, slightly sour, calvados-style. Comments: stunning nose and excellent palate despite the roughness, then a finish that was a little gritty for me. Great, great cognac nonetheless. SGP:561 - 86 points.

Now, we have to talk…

Cognac Briand 1893 (OB, Vieille Fine Champagne)

A marvellous bottle, probably bottled around 1950, so already very old. I can’t seem to find any mention of some contemporary Cognac Briand, so I guess the brand doesn’t exist anymore, and the name’s probably more famous for its old sexy art deco ads that are being replicated ad nauseam these days. Colour: mahogany. Nose: first, its not tired at all, and second, it’s rather simpler than the previous ones, with more obvious raisiny notes. We’re even having notes of Muscat, go figure. After that, it does become more complex, with superb notes of old liqueurs, tarts and pies. Apricots, mirabelles, then a little caramel, perhaps, and wee touch of ham and parsley. Chicken bouillon? A drop of pinesap too, even a little tar… Oh forget about what I had written, this is complex old cognac. Mouth: the body’s impressive, there’s no weakness at all, no flabbiness, no excessive dryness, only high quality cognac. We’re rather on the piny/tarry side at first, but stewed fruits and herbal liqueurs are soon to kick in. Plus plenty of raisins of course. I even find a touch of salt, but cognac cellars are often very close to the Atlantic. There’s also a feeling of very old sweet wine. The body remained perfect, and the mouth feel is even quite fresh. Finish: long, with a little sourness, not unpleasant. The meaty/herbal side grew bigger and in the end, it’s almost like some Thai chicken bouillon. Comments: how could this baby survive like this? Two wars and many hundreds of thousands of thirsty invaders and liberators, I guess it’s been perfectly hidden somewhere. In he UK? SGP:661 - 90 points.

L'Esprit de Tiffon (40%, OB for Wealth Solutions, 150 decanters, 2014)

This extremely old blend of cognacs comes from the owners’ private paradis. It is totally pre-phylloxeric, a significant part even coming from the very Napoleonic 1805 vintage. I find it extremely smart and kind that the distributors would have dispatched samples of this utter glory to a few journalists and bloggers, while the whole batch had already been sold upfront and no further publicity was needed. Thank you! Colour: rich amber. Nose: it is difficult not to think of Austerlitz (right, and Waterloo) when nosing this. It is very impressive spirit, with a totally amazing roundness and fullness, an immense freshness, and, dare I say, a flabbergasting youth. And yet you can feel that it’s been polished by time, you get whiffs of ‘the interior of an old Jag’, of some kind of old cordial, of some kind of posh English marmalade, of old humidors and other worthy old wooden boxes (but no wood as such!), of old tobacco blend, of mirabelle jam, of fresh kugelhopf – or is that panettone?, of raisins of course… This nose is a piece of art! And it remains plain and pure cognac, that’s the most important part, perhaps. Mouth: and yet there are notes of very old calvados in this. 1805 calvados? It’s not quite a mildly luscious, old, slightly tired cognac, it’s even kind of vigorous, there’s plenty of life, and beyond any intellectualisation, which is always a trap when you try legendary drinks, it really is ‘very good’. Raisins are playing first fiddles, which is normal, then there’s stewed peaches, then old liqueurs, then herbal teas, plenty of them. Finish: not too long, it’s becoming a little fragile perhaps, but it would leave your palate as clean as a baby’s. Don’t I find a little eucalyptus in the aftertaste? Comments: I do not think this beauty has spent a lot of time in wood, the components have probably been transferred to the paradis relatively early in their lives. Maybe after 30 to 40 years. That’s why, I guess, the whole remained so fresh. A very moving, and truly wonderful spirit. SGP:541 - 92 points.

(with mercis to Olivier, Patrick and Michal)

Check the index of the few cognacs I've tasted so far