Cognac, Armagnac and the brandy family

Brandy is wine that went through fire. Thin, sour white wine, the kind nobody would pour at dinner, makes the best of it, because acidity and low sugar carry through the still as freshness. Every grape brandy region begins with that counterintuitive choice.

What brandy is

In the United States, brandy is spirit distilled from fermented fruit juice, mash or wine below 95 percent alcohol and bottled at 40 percent or more. The word brandy alone means grape brandy aged at least two years in oak; younger spirit must say immature. Cognac, Armagnac and calvados are recognized as French products made under French law, and pisco as grape brandy from Peru or Chile. The European Union defines wine spirit, distilled below 86 percent with a minimum of volatile compounds, and brandy, which is wine spirit aged at least a year in large oak or six months in small casks, at 36 percent or above.

Cognac

The Cognac region sits on the Charente river north of Bordeaux. Its production area was delimited in 1909 and its six crus fixed in 1938: Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne on chalky soils, prized for long aging and finesse; Borderies, small and aromatic with violet notes; Fins Bois, the largest, rounder and quicker to mature; Bons Bois and Bois Ordinaires, fruitier and more rustic, the last brushed by the Atlantic. Fine Champagne on a label means a blend drawn from the two Champagne crus with at least half from Grande Champagne.

The grape is ugni blanc, on more than 98 percent of the vineyard, chosen because it is low in sugar and high in acid. Folle blanche, colombard, montils and the modern cross folignan are also permitted. The wine, at eight to nine percent, is distilled twice in a copper Charentais pot still: a first run to a cloudy brouillis of about 30 percent, a second to the heart of the bonne chauffe at around 70. The spirit then ages without interruption in oak only, typically Limousin, and may not be sold before two years.

The age letters are legal minimums based on the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend. VS (Very Special, or three stars) is at least two years. VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale, or Reserve) is at least four. XO (Extra Old, Hors d'age, Extra) is at least ten, a floor the BNIC raised from six; some older guides still print the lower figure. XXO is fourteen years or more. Napoleon is a regulated tier of at least six years, between VSOP and XO. Cognac houses are blenders above all; the cellar master's work is marrying dozens of eaux-de-vie across crus and ages.

Armagnac

Armagnac lies south, in Gascony, and is older, rougher and more individual. Its three terroirs are Bas-Armagnac in the west, with poor, acidic clay loam soils that give light, fruity spirits; Tenareze in the center, fuller and slow to peak; and Haut-Armagnac, sparse and limestone. Four grapes matter: ugni blanc again, baco 22A (a post-phylloxera hybrid suited to the sandy soils), colombard and the historic folle blanche.

The still is the signature. About 95 percent of Armagnac comes off a continuous copper column, the alambic armagnacais approved in 1818, in a single pass at a low 52 to 72 percent, traditionally in the 50s. That low strength keeps far more of the wine's character than cognac's second distillation, which is why young Armagnac tastes of prunes and pepper. It ages in 400 liter casks of Gascon or Limousin oak, loses roughly half a degree of alcohol a year to evaporation, and is often bottled by vintage, unreduced, at 40 to 48 percent. The designations run VS, VSOP, and XO or Hors d'Age, the last two requiring ten years. Blanche d'Armagnac is the unaged spirit.

The cousins

Calvados is Normandy's apple (and pear) brandy, distilled from cider; Pays d'Auge is the appellation to look for. Spanish brandy de Jerez ages in sherry casks by solera. Pisco is the unaged grape brandy of Peru and Chile and has its own article. American brandy, mostly from California, is the volume product and the cheapest route into a Sidecar. Fruit brandies, kirsch, slivovitz, applejack, are the same idea applied to other orchards.

In cocktails

The Sidecar is cognac's classic: VS or VSOP, orange liqueur and lemon, with a VS from Fins Bois giving more fruit than a Grande Champagne. The French 75 was a gin drink first, but the cognac version is the New Orleans tradition and takes a VSOP. A Brandy Crusta or Vieux Carre wants cognac's depth; the latter splits cognac and rye. An Armagnac Old Fashioned shows the Gascon spirit at its best, and calvados makes a Jack Rose with grenadine and lime that no other base replaces.

Buying by style

Match age to purpose. VS for shaking: the citrus will eat anything older. VSOP for stirring and for most cocktails where the spirit leads. XO and vintage Armagnac for the glass alone. Among cognacs, a Borderies or Fins Bois VSOP often drinks rounder young than a Grande Champagne of the same age, which needs decades. Among Armagnacs, a Bas-Armagnac vintage from a small house costs less than an equivalent XO cognac and is the best value in aged brandy. Read for cru, for cask strength, and for the words non-reduced; ignore the medals on the bottle.

Folklore and fact

The angel's share sounds like legend and is bookkeeping: spirit evaporates through oak, and the BNIA puts the loss at about half a degree of alcohol a year. The letters on the label are the part people misread. They describe the youngest spirit in the blend, not the oldest, and XO has meant ten years for cognac since the rule changed; a bottle bought as six-year XO was legal under the old regime and is simply an older label. Napoleon neither drank nor named his tier.

Sources

• BNIC (cognac.fr), "A protected origin", "The various crus in the Cognac GI", and "Cognac grape varieties".
• cognac.com, "What are the cognac ageing designations" (1983 designations; note the outdated XO figure).
• 27 CFR 5.145, Brandy (Cornell LII); Regulation (EU) 2019/787, Annex I categories 4 and 5 (EUR-Lex).
• BNIA (armagnac.fr), "Distillation and ageing", "Grape varieties and terroirs", and "Hors d'Age and XO".
• cognac.com, "The 6 cognac appellations" and "The Charentaise method".