Cocktails with Cognac
Cognac is a French grape brandy — twice distilled in copper pot stills and aged in oak — made only in the Charente and Charente-Maritime, around the town of Cognac, under strict AOC rules. It’s the benchmark of aged grape brandy.
ABV40%Is the AOC minimum, but 42–46% bottlings exist and carry better in a cocktail.
Substitutes for Cognac
Any aged grape brandy keeps the strength, the oak and the amber, and what it cannot bring is the Charente terroir and the rancio that comes with long aging. In a Sidecar or a Sazerac that loss is small; in anything sipped it is the whole point.
On the label
- VS / VSOP / Napoléon / XO / Hors d’âge
- The age of the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend — VS at least 2 years, VSOP 4, Napoléon 6, XO 10 (since 2018; it was 6 before), Hors d’âge older still. Most bottles hold spirit older than the minimum.
- cru (Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies…)
- The vineyard zone — six in all, Grande Champagne the most prized, then Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bons Bois and Bois Ordinaires. "Fine Champagne" is a Grande/Petite blend (at least half Grande), nothing to do with sparkling wine.
- dosage / boisé
- Cognac may legally be adjusted with a little sugar, caramel color (E150a) and oak infusion (boisé), within a small limit — so its sweetness and color aren’t purely "natural."
