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TheRiddick · 03-11-2009, 08:32 PM

Johnny,

For the most part, I avoid any Cognac that has a "designation". If you look at all the small house, family owned Cognacs on the market, they don't have any designation to begin with, simply some proprietary name that means something for that particular house.

For example, most any small house Cognac STARTS with a blend that is about 10 average, meaning some of the components may be 5 years old and others that are 15 years old. This easily surpasses even the XO designation, which is used by most "commercial" houses such as Martell, Remy, Hennessy and others.

I don't even remember the last time I drank any Cognac with a "designation", I was gifted a bottle of Hennessy XO recently and I am not looking towards drinking it: too much oak, artificial coloring (any red tint means that) and little nuance. TO MY PALATE, YMMMV of course. Many houses do marketing tricks by having their products in expensive crystal bottles, but the product inside is same old oak driven, color tinted and little nuanced brandy.

Look for small houses, such as Delamaine, Ferrand, Deret, Gourmel (my favorite), Hine and a few others. A bit more money, but then you're buying and enjoying, say, something on the order of a high end smoke (Opus, DPG, Tats, Illusione, etc) versus Swisher Sweets.

Per your post above, ALL the houses I listed are ABOVE the mentioned grades, in many cases way above (20-30+ years blends). Guaranteed. I've been drinking them since mid '80s and can highly recommend them. Even their "bottom end" is way above the best of the big houses.

03-11-2009, 08:32 PM	#13
TheRiddick Non-believer Join Date: Jan 2009 First Name: Greg Location: Las Vegas Posts: 943 Trading: (7)	Re: whiskey, cognac, brandy Johnny, For the most part, I avoid any Cognac that has a "designation". If you look at all the small house, family owned Cognacs on the market, they don't have any designation to begin with, simply some proprietary name that means something for that particular house. For example, most any small house Cognac STARTS with a blend that is about 10 average, meaning some of the components may be 5 years old and others that are 15 years old. This easily surpasses even the XO designation, which is used by most "commercial" houses such as Martell, Remy, Hennessy and others. I don't even remember the last time I drank any Cognac with a "designation", I was gifted a bottle of Hennessy XO recently and I am not looking towards drinking it: too much oak, artificial coloring (any red tint means that) and little nuance. TO MY PALATE, YMMMV of course. Many houses do marketing tricks by having their products in expensive crystal bottles, but the product inside is same old oak driven, color tinted and little nuanced brandy. Look for small houses, such as Delamaine, Ferrand, Deret, Gourmel (my favorite), Hine and a few others. A bit more money, but then you're buying and enjoying, say, something on the order of a high end smoke (Opus, DPG, Tats, Illusione, etc) versus Swisher Sweets. Per your post above, ALL the houses I listed are ABOVE the mentioned grades, in many cases way above (20-30+ years blends). Guaranteed. I've been drinking them since mid '80s and can highly recommend them. Even their "bottom end" is way above the best of the big houses.