Best Cognac

Mes Chers Amis Americains! (My dear American friends),

Why go to France when you can enjoy fine Californian fare.
Technically not Cognac, Bonny Doon vineyards offers a great "Brandy" Marc de Cigare. It holds its own against many of the Cognacs listed above.

Unfortunately I checked the Bonny Doon web-site and they do not seem to be offering it anymore. But Acresverde will be happy to know that they do offer a Calvadoon!.

Fine music, fine wine (or spirits) c'estla belle vie!

Come on guys, why on earth should we want to compare apples and oranges (or rather apples and grapes) and restrict ourselves to one of those? We listen to different kinds of music also, don't we. In the words of D.P. Gumby, my brain would hurt, seriously, if I were ever forced to choose between vintage Grosperrin cognac, vintage Francis Darroze armagnac, Adrien Camut "Rareté" calvados or 1964 Black Bowmore whisky for the rest of my life. But there are other products that belong in the chamber of treasures as well: Randall Grahm's "Marc de Cigare" is surely one of those as well as Reinhard Löwenstein's rare occasional Tresterbrand of Eiswein or TBA, Romano Levi's grappa, Giovi's ciliegie dell'Etna or Pierre Morey's "simple" Fine de Bourgogne. Nothing more boring than always having to drink the same wine.

Nick_sr, good to meet another Doon aficionado on Audiogon, Randall sure is one of the most fascinating people in the trade, yeah, DEWN forever!

Hi Edouard, I just ordered a bottle of your Petite Champagne Millésime 1976 from Le-Cognac.com. Just curious, could you tell me where the vineyard is, is it a single lieu-dit that one can situate on the map? Also, I assume Le Cognac are probably offering a very recent bottling, 2010 possibly?

Congratulations for the great music on your website! Whilst I was writing this, I have been listening to Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers' "Moanin'" and right now it's Django Reinhardt's "Nuages"!

Cordialement
Karel

My most recent bottle of absolutely fabulous cognac is "AE Dor
No.8", a Grande Champagne cognac (which it appears you can also find
on Le-Cognac.com). I have just started in on my most recent bottle and I find
this cognac to be superlative. I would never buy this on my own - it was a gift
from my wife (and interestingly, it was cheaper than any online price I have
found) - but I am awfully glad she wanted to splurge for my Christmas
present...

For 'every day' cognac, while in Japan, I have found some interesting very
small producers sold through a liquor store in Mejiro (section of Tokyo near
Ikebukuro) - the same place which sells the AE Dor above, but among better
known names, I usually have a bottle of Frapin around. Chateau de Fontpinot
is a nice bottle I have found.

When in the US, I often buy cognac from the Ferrand line (which I think offers
excellent bang for buck), with my favorites being 'Selection des Anges' (I have
had one bottle of 'Ancestrale', given as a gift, and it was beautiful, but I am
not sure I can do that very often) and 'Brut de Fut.' 'Brut de Fut' means
'straight from the cask' (cognac is often drawn from the cask at 45-55% or so,
then bottled at ~40% (or so) by adding water) and is strong stuff but it also
has a very rich flavor to it - important to get the temperature up a bit to get
all the aromas. More interestingly, being completely non-blended, every
bottle ends up a little bit different, while retaining the layers, complexity,
honey-spice richness of the aged Ferrand cognacs.

Zoya - if you can find Louis XIII for $900 jump on it! Wholesale on a bottle is around $1,600 for a 750ml. Won't be trying that anytime soon - that's a nice pair of IC's :-)