Younger Cognac

I bought a brand I didn't know called Cognac Dorlan VS, it cost $34.00, the least expensive Cognac I saw on the shelves. Earlier, I had tried in a bar Martell VS based on a tip from David Wondrich in his new book on punch. I thought it was excellent and was going to buy that, but the Dorlan was less money so I bought that one.

It has a soft, balanced taste, is recognizably Cognac brandy but without that intense perfumed top-note so typical of expensive Cognac that I think comes from long storage in French wood, a taste I've never liked. (I say that because I recognize it in some French wines). You can taste some of the grape congeners, which I like - that's the distillery taste of brandy just as bourbon and rye have their own. In fact, this Cognac reminded me of a good bourbon, you could mistake it for an eccentric bourbon quite easily.

It is this kind of brandy that makes me think the theories that bourbon was devised to emulate Cognac in New Orleans may be true.

An excellent quaff without the caramelly, sometimes jammy taste most non-Cognac brandies have (other than Armagnac).

Bravo a la maison Dorlan: they are offering a taste of history, since brandies in the early years were not aged decades, but with a savoury flavour not heavy on the "perfume" often associated with Cognac. From memory, Martell VS was similar and in time I will pick up a bottle.

Gary

P.S. I know the conventional learning is that young Cognac should be mixed with water or ice or a soft drink but I found this brand very approachable on its own.

sounds interesting. I'll look for it.

I've noted a plethora of imported brandies on the shelves lately. Maybe importers trying to cash in on the flavored vodka craze by offering other flavor alternatives?

More like they are trying to cash in period, times are tough and competition is high.

A typical VS, especially from one of the major houses, will be a little rough but usually perfectly acceptable to drink neat. The conventional wisdom is mostly just positioning on the part of the marketers. They think their lines shows best if you start at the VSOP for your straight sipping.

Two of the best cognac bangs for the buck I have found are the Hennessy Priviledge, a VSOP, which can be found in the $40 range and the Tesseron No.90, an XO, which is in the mid $40 range.

Both are available and IMO drink well beyond their price point. The Tesseron when found on sale for $40 is IMO one of cognacs greatest bargains...

One of my favorite Cognac's is Chalfonte VSOP. It can be found for around $20, and it's excellent. I buy it by the case for my girlfriend, and it doesn't hang around very long. I like it, she likes it, and every other cognac drinker who has come through liked it as well. I try to avoid telling them what it costs.

She likes, I like it, man that's a plus-plus.

I always find cheap Cognacs and other brandies okay but ultimately disappointing. I'll try something, decide it's acceptable, buy it, and never finish the bottle. If you want to stay at the low end, forget Cognac and try a Spanish or Greek brandy, or for that matter, a fine American brandy. Domestics Korbel, Christian Brothers and Paul Masson are all aged in used American whiskey barrels.

On the other hand Martell Cordon Bleu, at about $100 a bottle, never disappoints.

I would generally agree but Cognac Dorlan VS is the exception. Some will have to come to the next Gazebo...

Gary

Actually Dorlan VS was the first cognac I tried. I was not blown away by it but it provided a good introduction to the spirit.

If you're in the market for a good budget brandy I would say skip the cognac and get St. Remy XO. It is nicely balanced and not too sweet or cloying. Raynal XO is also good though sweeter than St. Remy.

I was watching some cooking show the other day and they had a section about brandy. As a non-scientific test they set up some tables outside a ski resort somewhere and had 100 people taste four different brandies. Three choices were cognacs over $70, including Remy Martin and Courvoisier, and the fourth was St. Remy VSOP, which goes for around $24. St. Remy got twice as many votes as the next closest contestant.