Is there really a world beyond Cognac?
Legend has it that a group of Dutch exporters and French vintners thought to maximize shipping (and profit) by distilling their wines. At the final destination they would reconstitute the product, approximating the original.
They were mistaken. Shipped in oak barrels, the wine’s flavour was irrevocably altered.
However, they had quite by accident discovered a new spirit. Deriving its name from the Dutch word brandewijn, or burnt wine, it was immortalized as brandy.
Today, two French regions are considered the unequivocal masters of this spirit—Cognac and the slightly lesser known Armagnac.
Of the two, Cognac remains king but connoisseurs contend that Armagnac is a superior quaff.
Eager to learn what all the fuss was about, I headed for the MLCC flagship store at Grant Park…and disappointment.
