Cognac

We are Australia's cheapest online liquor store offering you the lowest prices on all of your favourite brands including premium Cognac, pisco and liqueurs. Bottle Stop is home to the broadest range ofbeer, spirits and wine all at the lowest price currently available. We scour the internet and your all of your favourite alcohol stores for all of the specials, delivering our complete range of alcohol at the lowest prices that we can find. Every day is a specials' day when you shop online with Bottle Stop .

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Cognac vs brandy

In all of the old movies, the men set off for a crackling fire somewhere in a lavish old house and swill Cognac in a brandy balloon while they puff on a cigar. But what's it really and where did it come and why, confusingly, is it sometimes called brandy and sometimes called Cognac?

The history of Cognac actually goes back to the sixteenth century and to Dutch merchants travelling into France to buy wine. Transporting perishable goods five hundred years ago was a tough business. Weather, travel conditions and what you were transporting your wine in all heavily affected the longevity of your purchases and what you could get for them at home in Holland if your goods survived the trip at all. A high quality beverage would fetch a much better price than wine that had gone sour on the trip from France.

Although at this point in history the microscope hadn't yet been invented, humanity had worked out that strong liquor had a preservation effect in much the same way that salt and smoke preserved meat. The higher the alcoholic content of a drink, the higher the chance it would keep. Dutch merchants gave the idea shot with their wine orders, distilling the French wine before transporting it. This first go created the drink eau de vie (which translates to water of life'), a type of colourless fruit brandy. The process not only preserved their French wine, but sales increased with the discovery of a new and wonderful taste distilling the wine provided. Noting that the distillation process improved the taste and preservation of their wine stocks, they had another go at distilling the distilled drink to see what that would. It is this second distillation that actually created what we now understand to be brandy. And, no surprises here, but the second distillation created an even finer tasting liquor that is still created now in Cognac region of France, as well as around the world.

If you haven't already guessed the difference between Cognac and brandy, it's all in where it's made - Grande Champagne. To qualify as Cognac, it must be made in the Cognac region, of which Fins Bois is a sub-region renown for producing some of the best Cognac in the world, and traditional Cognac makers include Martell, Courvoisier and Hennessy.

There is also lesser thought origin story of brandy and Cognac tied to import taxes applied to wine around the sixteenth century. Wine merchants could avoid paying larger sums in tax but importing less' wine i.e. the same wine just distilled down to a smaller volume. Once they were inside the city gates and ready to sell it, they'd water the brandy down again.

What is Cognac?

So, Cognac is a type of brandy from the Dutch brandewijn (burnt wine) that is made in France. All Cognac is brandy but not all brandy is, therefore, Cognac. And, not all Cognac and brandy is the same. There is a very strict grading system for describing expensive brandy:

• VS very special' or a 3-star brandy which means it is a blend with the youngest brandy cask aged for at least two years.
• VSOP very superior old pale' or a 5-star brandy which means it is a blend with the youngest brandy cask aged for at least four years. This might also be known as a reserve'.
• XO extra old' which means it is a blend with the youngest brandy cask aged for at least six years. This might also be known as a Napoleon'.
• Hors d'âge beyond age'. Technically it's equal to XO for Cognac but for Armagnac where it designates a brandy that is at least ten years old. Generally, the term is used to market high-quality and very expensive examples beyond the official aging scale.

Cognac is most often distilled from ugni blanc, the most common white grape variety planted in France. The folle blanche, now exclusively only found in Western France, was the traditional grape variety used for Cognac and for dry white wines.

How to drink Cognac?

Cognac is traditional served at room temperature in a particular type of glass known as a tulip glass, balloon glass or wobble snifter. All of these glasses will sit comfortably in the palm of the hand which allows you to gently warm your Cognac for several minutes before you take your first sip. Using body heat to warm the Cognac will allow its natural aroma and flavours to release, increasing the overall experience of each and every sip.

If you're not the sort of straight drinking drinker and prefer to sip your liquor from a cocktail then you have some tried and tested favourites that will go nicely with Rémy Martin or any other brandy of your choice. The Sidecar is a classic containing a zingy combination of Cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice. Shaken with ice and served either with or without a sugared rim in a classic martini glass, this simple little drink packs a powerful, old-timey punch.

The Bermuda Highball is another simple and lethal cocktail containing a VSOP Cognac, a dry gin and a Blanco vermouth. Add a dash of orange bitters and some ice, then fill your highball glass the rest of the way with some club soda. Choose either orange of lemon peel to garnish.

Order from our range of Cognac and brandy online and get the lowest prices available anywhere in Australia from Brisbane to Sydney, Melbourne to Perth and everywhere in between.

Bottle Stop

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