So I’ll be staying a week around Cognac but have never been a brandy drinker.

You gents are excellent at recommending Whiskys. What about a decent bottle of France’s finest ?

Is Courvoisier like the equivalent of Bells or Remy Martin like Teachers?

Please educate me/us

Merci

<stw>Armagnac</stw>

Wiki will tell you more about Cognac than I can. I don’t drink much of it and I’m not fussy so any of the big brands is fine by me.

As you’re there visit some. Hennessy do the visit very well, it used to be free but along with Martell they now charge about 20e for the guided tour and a tasting. Smaller producers often do free tastings, just follow the signs at the side of the road. They very often sell Pineau too, it’s a mixture of grape juice and Cognac which you might like. I sometimes buy Pineau when passing through les Charentes but rarely Cognac.

https://lesvisites.hennessy.com/fr-fr/les-visites/les-visites?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIybL-6PWE2wIV2IXVCh0aGApYEAAYASAAEgK9SfD_BwE

Heine.

I suspect you mean Hine, Wrighty, and which one?

A favourite city. I was forbidden from leaving one year. Completely missed that the individual tt was going right past the site. So was blocked in also the week of the jazz festival. I have vague recollections of the week.

Has to be at least an XO IMO. Had a bottle of Delamain once, it is one of the cheaper ones (although they don’t bother producing any lesser grades) and was very nice.

<stw>Armagnac</stw>

I agree.  Armagnac is the dog’s danglies.

I’m not very good with spirits so they have to be very smooth for me to go near.  Can’t stand whiskey and tolerate brandy.  For a nice armagnac I have Clos Martin Folle Blanche VSOP which is pretty good, can also recommend Baron de Sigognac 10 year old.

High street stuff generally I can’t take, but Corvoisier isn’t too bad.

Croeso.

Remy Martin have ‘le petit train’ that you sit on and it winds through the coopery, the aging houses etc it’s enjoyable to do. problem is that XO is ridiculously expensive but it really is a lot better than a bog standard VS. ask for recommendations of smaller producers when you get there

btw pineau de charantes can get stuffed, I don’t care how much they spout on about it, I think it’s guff

I typed hine first time them it changed to gone then I ended up with heine, I love autocorrect.

I only buy it once a year from a local shop we have in out town that specialises in good booze. She has some £1k bottles of cognac in there 🤤

I believe she always recommends a Leopold Gourmel one as well. I don’t really know my stuff but she does.

Remy Martin and Martel make some fantastic Cognacs at the top end of the range but the affordable stuff is average and for the same price Camus, Pierre Ferrand, Hine, Delamain and Gautier are much, much better.

Camus is my favourite tour, which makes you realise just how commercial and brand oriented the major names are.  Also my favourite too hence why my expensive Cognacs are Camus. After the tour and quite a few samples later, take a stroll down to the Charante or through the park where there is always something happening.