Courvoisier XO

Courvoisier XO

Brandy: Cognac

From: ?

House: Courvoisier

Style: Blend

Colour: Amber

ABV: 40%

N: Red grapes, raisins, honey, cloves, chocolate. 

M: Light body, slippery, loosens, slightly, warm. 

T: Sweet. Blackberry cordial, raisins, honey, cherries, chocolate. 

F: Short. Blackberry cordial, chocolate, cherries, honey. 

Comments:

Rather standard and one dimensional. Although it’s older than the VS expression from the same house, I enjoyed this less. 

Verdict:

Not bad. 

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.

Jules Gautret VS Cognac

Jules Gautret VS Cognac

Brandy: Cognac
From: Petite Champagne
House: Jules Gautret
Style: Blend
Colour: Dark gold
ABV: 40%

N: raisins, soy sauce, nail varnish, cloves, lemon zest.

M: light body, slippery, loosens, cool.

T: bitter sour. Lemon zest, pear drops, brown paper, white grapes, hints of cookie dough.

F: short. Fresh baked bread, soy sauce, white grapes, sultanas, vanilla.

Comments:

This brandy is marked VS, and it's about 2 years old. I've not had many this young, and I don't think I will going forward. There's a balanced quality to aged spirits, something very pleasant and mellow, like time somehow melds the flavour notes together, rounding off all the harsh edges and making them fit more harmoniously.

Instead, this brandy is unbalanced, lots of flavour notes that clash, one on top of the other. It's a little confusing. However, all the components of a great spirit are there - the fruit, the texture, the spice - and it just needs some time to come together.

Verdict:

Not bad.

Bossard XO

Bossard XO

Brandy: Cognac
From: ?
House: Bossard
Style: Blend
Colour: Chinese tea
ABV: 40%

N: Toffee, caramel, chocolate, sea salt, seaweed, hints of vanilla

M: Medium body, loosens, airy, slightly oily

T: Bitter sweet. Blackcurrants, milk chocolate, caramel, burnt toffee, lemon zest, hints of seaweed.

F: Long. Lemon zest, burnt toffee, vanilla, marshmallows.

Comments:

This is my first brandy from this house, although that's not surprising. I had this at a Chinese banquet, which was surprising, since the brandy served at these banquets tends to be from Martell, Courvoisier or Remy Martin. It's not what I expected, the red fruit and raisin notes that tend to prevail in brandy were almost absent from the nose, and were instead replaced by a chocolatey, caramelly sort of flavour. It was quite neutral, almost rum-like. On the tongue, some fruit notes appeared, but it wasn't quite as intense as some other brandies that I've tried.

Later, I googled this and discovered that it's an entry level bottling available in Germany and some Eastern European countries. The producer seems to have entirely disappeared off the internet.

Verdict:

Not bad.