Cognac_directory_FINAL

difficult. Many firms dilute brandies destined for sale in
two or three years immediately after distillation to around
55–60 per cent. If you dilute immediately to below 55 per
cent the cognac is too weak to attack the wood directly, it
has to be stronger to extract the tannins. ‘At Hennessy we
prefer to keep the brandy’s character,’ said Maurice Fillioux,
so they mix it a year before the brandy is to be sold. At
Martell they taste even the distilled water. Obviously the
slower the dilution the better. To slow the process some of
the more scrupulous merchants use petits eaux. These are
made by filling old casks half full of distilled water. Within
six months the water has ‘matured to reach around 20 per
cent. But if the ages of the different elements in the final
blend differ too widely – a blend, say of ten and hundred
year old cognacs – then the contrast jars on the palate.
Following dilution the brandies are refrigerated to 15°F
(-9°C) and filtered (generally centrifugally) to ensure that
they do not throw any deposits even if they are left on
tropical docksides or in icy Alaskan warehouses for weeks
at a time. For a house style has to be capable not only of
being applied on an industrial scale but also of surviving
the many accidents that can happen between the Charente
and the drinker. But whatever you do to it mature cognac
remains the finest and most complex liquid distillation – in
both senses of the term – of the heart of France. La France
profonde.
3
THE PRODUCERS AND
THEIR BRANDIES
This directory – which will be regularly updated in future – is
the fruit of thirty years’ experience in writing about cognac,
visiting the region’s producers and discussing their offerings
with them. The tasting notes reflect my personal tastes, which
are for cognacs which combine purity – that is, the lack of
any apparent sugar, caramel, or artificial woodiness – with
positive qualities, reflecting grapiness, nuttiness and fresh or
candied fruitiness. After twenty or more years in wood the
best cognacs acquire the unique quality of rancio, a rich blend
involving nuts of all descriptions as well as candied fruits,
similar to that of the rich fruit cakes beloved of the English.
Cognacs over the age of six (a figure which will increase
to ten in 2016) can legally be called any name of the
producer’s choosing so, quality-wise, these names are
pretty meaningless. A few will be of single vintages, but
only the handful which are claimed as being before 1988,