Lovers of malt whisky or aged rum should really be exploring the Cognac region, especially with a certain winter holiday on the horizon. It’s coming! If old sherried single malts like Glenfarclas or Macallan float your boat, then you’ll love long-aged vintage or XO Cognac. If Spanish-style rums are more your thing, then you’ll love some fruity VSOPs. Love cocktails? Well, you’ll need a good VS to make a Sazerac, Horse’s Neck etc. Cognac is usually a blended spirit. Giant merchants houses like Hennessy or Remy Martin buy in spirits and age and blend them. Producers are allowed to sweeten and a ..read more

We know our mums are awesome all year round – but we still want to make them feel loved on Mother’s Day! This is what Team MoM is picking up for their mas this 14 March. Mum, mother, mom, mam, mama, amma, ma, The Mothership…  We all call our mums different things here at MoM Towers (heck, it’s even almost in our own name!). The mothers either in or represented across the building (ok, we’re largely working remotely right now) come in all forms, too: single mothers, adoptive mothers, working mothers, working-plus-homeschooling mothers, mothers raising children together, step mothers, cat ..read more

It’s revival week here at Master of Malt. Not only are we reviving a classic pre-dinner aperitif but we’re making it with an old brand of Cognac that has just been relaunched.  Christmas is going to be a bit different this year but I’ve been musing on Christmases past when we used to have the whole family over for the big day. My brother and I would help my father make drinks. It was a complicated process because everyone seemed to have their own special drinks which had to be made the right way: my grandmother with her Whisky and Soda which had to be made with Famous Grouse; her husband ..read more

With the price of certain in-demand single malts going up the whole time, if you like high quality aged spirits, it’s worth taking a look outside whisky to see what is available. So here are eight Cognacs for single malt Scotch whisky lovers. Cognac. Cognac! Ah, Cognac, the very word if a byword for luxury and sophistication. Cognac, drunk by hip hop stars and oligarchs and comes in lavishly packaged crystal decanters. All true. But there’s another side to this unique spirit. Outside the very high end, good Cognac isn’t ridiculously expensive. In fact, in some circumstances it can be ridiculo ..read more

Our New Arrival this week is a rare Cognac that not only comes from a single vintage but a single vineyard too. It’s Hine Single Estate Bonneuil 2012! Traditionally, most Cognac producers have prioritised consistency— not vintage variations—in their products. Most Cognacs are blends of years sold in a consistent house style under designations such as VS (Very Special, minimum two years ageing), VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale, minimum four years) or XO (extra old, minimum 10 years.)  The terroir of Cognac What doesn’t come across in commercial Cognac is the sheer diversity of terroir t ..read more

Ever wondered what’s the difference between Armagnac and Cognac? Well here’s a little explainer looking at the history, geography and production methods of France’s greatest brandies.  When reaching for a delicious brandy to make cocktails like a Sidecar or to sip after a meal, overwhelmingly people will plump for Cognac, but France has another great brandy which isn’t quite so well-known, Armagnac. They’re both made from grapes, they’re both from France, and they’ve both aged in oak casks, so what’s the difference? What’s the difference between Armagnac and Cognac? History Cognac and Ar ..read more

Cognac has the complexity, personality, history, innovation, and value to make it a great alternative to whisky. And these bottles prove it. One thing whisky lovers understand is the joy of a great spirit. A humble-looking liquid in a glass that contains an entire world of culture and craft. But whisky doesn’t have a monopoly on greatness in the spirits world, and with its ever-increasing cost, we’re aware people are increasingly seeking alternatives. Cognac makes for a great one. Ironically, part of the making of whisky as a category was actually how it was seen as an affordable, available ..read more

It’s Cognac month here at Master of Malt and to kick things off, we’re going to take a look at how British and Irish merchants helped turn this local speciality into the most prestigious spirit in the world. As with most things in the drinks business and indeed business in general, the Dutch got there first. Cognac has its roots in the Dutch desire to make wine easier to transport by sea. The answer was distillation. Brandy from the vineyards around the town of Cognac was handy for shipping to Holland and beyond from Nantes or La Rochelle. The Dutch encouraged the plantation of acidic white g ..read more

Terroir-tastic Port Charlotte, the rarest of Cognac, a snippet of Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, whisky cake… It’s a bumper edition of What we loved this week! Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! As you might expect the blog had something of an Irish theme this week. We began the week with a single grain whiskey from a mysterious distillery called Beautiful Fruit before looking at the best whiskeys to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. For most people, this day means a pint of the black stuff, maybe with a Jameson chaser but we are nothing if not adventurous here on the Master of Malt blog, s ..read more

This is our final New Arrival of the Week of 2022 and we’ve got something a little unusual to say au revoir. Or perhaps that should be sayonara because what we’ve got here is a Cognac finished in Japanese oak. It’s Cognac Park Borderies Mizunara. We tend to think of Cognac as one of the most conservative of spirits. It’s based on the hierarchy of vineyards from Grand Champagne at the top to Bons Bois and Bois Ordinaires somewhere near the bottom. Who can forget James Bond turning his nose up at the Cognac served to him by M in Goldfinger? “I’d say it was a 30-yea ..read more