Louis Royer VS

Louis Royer VS

Brandy: Cognac
From: All
House: Louis Royer
Style: Blend
Colour: Amber
ABV: 40%

N: raisins, honey, blackcurrant cordial, orange blossom, hints of caramel.

M: Medium body, thickens, slippery, cool.

T: Sweet. Honey, orange blossom, sugarcane, raisins, hints of palm sugar.

F: Long. Sugarcane, caramel, orange blossom, vanilla,

Comments:

I'm not keen on additives to my spirit, or indeed on any messing around with it, except for wood. I prefer my whisky free of caramel (colour be damned), and ideally unchillfiltered. Although all the whisky distilleries insist that additives make no difference to taste, I believe that it does. In the same way, I prefer no sugar be added to my brandy, except perhaps for the very narrow exception of Metaxa, and certainly not in my cognac (although I'm not even sure if this is allowed - it probably isn't).

However, this cognac tastes quite sweet, in a slightly unalluring way. Sweet notes of sugarcane are the predominant flavour, although there is something floral underneath. There's caramel as well, something really quite strong. Perhaps my palate can't quite capture the nuances of this cognac yet, but I didn't really enjoy it - too sweet perhaps, and certainly not very interesting.

Verdict:

Not bad.