May have bought swill for Cognac
Salem
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 717
I have not taken the first drink of alcohol in many years. Quit back then when I had children, was not a problem drinker, but quit anyway. Now I'm ready for Cigars & Cognac. lol! Anyway, did just a little research, went to the ABC store today. What I really wanted was a nice VSOP. But the VSOPs they had were not in a familiar brand to me except for the Remy Martin, but it was a champagne cognac and I was not sure it was the same as regular cognac. So I wound up getting Hennessey VS. Thought I couldn't go wrong with Hennessey even if it was a VS. Came back, looked at reviews online and they are not good. Now I'm scared I have something that tastes like swill for my first cognac taste!! darn it!!
Comments
As for designations:
VS = Very Special - youngest cognacs in the blend must be a minimum of 2 years old
VSOP = Very Special Old Pale - youngest must be 4 years
XO = Extra Old - youngest must be 6 years
All makers have something above XO and many have sub categories in between the other 3 levels. When it comes down to it, however, most of the cognacs are much older than the minimum requirement.
Personally, I prefer an XO level congac for sipping and use VS and VSOP for mixing. Not that they're undrinkable but usually a bit young, fruit driven and can be a bit hot for sipping.
Unfortunately, this hip-hop association has also separated much of the cognac world and driven prices sky high. I'm still a big fan of Pierre Ferrand and everything they put out. This is also, however, why I enjoy my rum so much. Rum is making a name for itself but still hasn't hit that level of cognac or scotch that a nice bottle has to cost you a minimum of $100.
And the idea of cooking with it is a great one. I've done a cognac cream sauce over a steak fillet that is really nice. Reduce cognac with some orange peel, a bit of garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper, add heavy cream to the reduced mixture and simmer until you like the consistency. Pretty easy, really. Just have to use a bit of cognac as some flavor will be lost through the cooking process. Cheers.
If you really want to make yourself sick, do a google search on "world's most expensive cognacs." It's just plain stupid what some people will pay for a bottle of booze (up to 2M - and no, I'm not kidding - the packaging would make the Gurkha guys blush). That being said, I'm completely opposed to drinking cheap swill. If I go out and all that's around is cheap booze, I'll stick with water or iced tea. If I'm not going to enjoy it, I won't drink it just to get drunk.
I could see paying several hundred for a bottle, but my income just doesn't justify more than that. If you look at it this way: there are plenty of guys around here that will drop several hundred just on one box of cigars and that bottle will probably last me just as long, if not longer than that box of cigars.