When people talk about brandy, a famous line from Samuel Johnson is often quoted: “Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.” Well, by Dr. Johnson’s definition, America is sorely lacking in heroism.

With brandy, the concept of blending is the most difficult for Americans to wrap their minds around. In the world of craft spirits—particularly whiskey—the master distiller is the protagonist, the hero of the story. We love to talk about singular things: single malts, single barrels, certain vintages singled out for their singularity. Blending? You may as well be speaking French.

Most American drinkers don’t want to hear about blending, likely because blending removes an age statement as the easy shortcut to connoisseurship. But perhaps this is ungenerous. Let’s just say that with Cognac, Armagnac, and Calvados, the master blender plays a much more important role than the distiller. Yet blending is probably the most misunderstood aspect of producing aged spirits, and it’s rarely discussed.

Blending is a bit of a dark art, and brands are always cagey about age and terroir, but the point is to arrive at something with complexity and balance. Rémy Martin’s former master blender Pierrette Trichet once told me, “The important thing with blending is to, as we say, close the gaps between the ages.” That meant she and her team would taste year-round, so they knew which barrels they could tap for young, fresh fruit aromas, where to find dried fruit and spice, where to find intensity, and where to find the older, sought-after notes of nuttiness, baked apple pie, toffee, and the fascinating, hard-to-describe rancio notes you find in very old brandies.

Still, the spirits market is driven by the popularity of whiskey, and so you’re seeing more and more single-cask brandy selections coming to market, nudging aside the traditional blends. Frankly, I love both, and it’s why the world of French brandy may be one of the most exciting right now.

Cognac

Cognac is complicated. It’s a region of thousands of growers and producers, but in reality it’s controlled by four brands: Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin, and Courvoisier. In the U.S., the so-called Big Four sell about 90 percent of the Cognac consumed, with Hennessy alone accounting for 60 percent. The majority of those sales are of one product: Hennessy VS. 

And my own relationship with Cognac is complicated. I love Cognac and I’ve covered the spirit for almost 15 years, and have spent significant time in the region. But I’m still very much an outsider. One reason is that I advocate for smaller brands, which naturally puts me in opposition to the Big Four.

Historically, the Cognac region is a négociant business, and a majority of stocks are owned by the Big Four, who buy from smaller producers. “The rules and classifications were made for people who sell in bulk,” said Amy Pasquet, of Jean-Luc Pasquet. Treasured family barrels end up going into mass market products from Hennessy or Rémy Martin. “Those blends are what people locally call a ‘fosse commune,’ a pauper’s grave,” Pasquet said. “We want a bottling that doesn’t erase the character of that single cask.”

But a new wave of smaller producers are saving some of its best barrels to themselves, to bottle under their own labels. And there is also a new wave of smaller négociants, like Pasquet, Grosperrin, and Vallein Tercinier, along with importers such as PM Spirits who are now focused on hunting down special barrels from across the region.

Before your eyes glaze over, I want to quickly run through a few Cognac terms you’ll see on the label. The first is the alphabet soup of Cognac blends: VS, VSOP, and XO, as well as several other nebulous designations. In VS (Very Special), the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend must be two years old. In VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale), the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend must be four years old. There aren’t many VSOP and below brandies I would recommend. So with blends, I will mostly be dealing with XO (Extra Old). As of 2018, the youngest eau-de-vie in an XO blend must be 10 years old. But from there, it gets even more maddening with terms of art such as Réserve, Hors d’Âge, Très Vieille, Napoléon, Extra, and Extra Extra Old. It’s no wonder that numerous smaller new-wave producers are moving away from this confusing system

The next set of label terms is slightly less confusing, and deals with geography and terroir. Coganc has six districts or crus, where the vineyards of the base wine are situated: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fin Bois, Bon Bois, and Bois Ordinaires. Grand Champagne has historically been considered Cognac’s grand cru, though modern enthusiasts are just as often intrigued by Borderies (smaller and rarer) and certain terroirs within Fin Bois and Petite Champagne. (By the way, “Champagne” has nothing to do with the sparkling wine region—it’s just that the two places share a chalky soil.)

Six Cognac Picks

Frapin Château Fontpinot XO ($170)

One of my favorite XOs, aged for 20 years in Frapin’s dry cellars, to highlight finesse and elegance. Made only from grapes harvested around Frapin’s Fontpinot castle, in Segonzac, the heart of Grande Champagne. Copper-orange in color, bright nose of fresh flowers and mint, along with richer aromas of dried apricot, pastry dough, and a hint of rancio. The freshness carries onto the palate, where there’s great linear structure, nuttiness and attractive acidity, and the surprisingly intense grilled walnut finish. Lively, drinkable style of XO that offers excellent value. (41 percent ABV)

Jean-Luc Pasquet L'Organic 10 ($90)

Rather than the traditional XO, the new generation at Pasquet has chosen to put numeric age statements on the labels of its younger bottlings. This one is a minimum of 10 years old, all from their estate in Grande Champagne. The intense nose offers alluring jasmine, smoked herbs, toffee, and an underlying aroma of Earl Grey tea. Full of juicy citrus in the mouth, balanced with notes of ginger and green tobacco. Pretty and powerful, and complex for its age. (40 percent ABV)

Jean Fillioux Très Vieux XO Extra Grande Champagne ($125)

A rich, opulent older XO, 25 to 30 years old. Copper with orange tinge, the nose has aromas of nougat, butterscotch, warm pastry, and marmalade. On the palate, complex spicy, with a hint of rancio, roasted walnuts and exotic wood at midpalate, and a note of espresso on the finish. Classic after-dinner spirit. (40 percent ABV)

Fanny Fougerat Iris Poivré XO ($85)

Vintage 2006 from Borderies, aged 15 years, and distilled without lees. More delicate than Le Laurier d’Apollon. Tangerine and ruby red grapefruit, but an underlying minerality and a long stony finish. Beautifully balanced with amazing texture on the palate. (40 percent ABV)

Vallein Tercinier Hors d’Âge ($220)

A blend of 40- to 70-year-old brandies from Grande and Petite Champagne and Fin Bois. Light amber, with a big, complex nose, full of ripe tropical fruit, dried flowers, herbs and spices, and in the mouth salted plum, dried apricot, candied citrus, roasted nuts all framed by great structure and a long finish. Incredible value—as good as what some of the bigger brands sell for well over $500. (40 percent ABV)

Navarre Vieille Réserve ($250)

One of the prized expressions in Grande Champagne. Aged 35 to 50 years, yet light amber in color. The incredibly complex nose is at first warm and affable, with pretty dried flowers, rose petals, and roasted walnuts, but as you return to the glass, the aromas open up with a tropical explosion of pineapple, mango, and guava. It wows the palate with so much going on at once, both profound and hedonistic. Lots of fiery spice and pepper at first, which is then balanced and rounded by more opulent tropical fruit, and forest floor notes, and a unique chalky finish. Consider how many thousands of dollars that the blingy bottlings from the big houses fetch, and you’ll see what an incredible value this is. (45 percent ABV)

Armagnac

Armagnac may be the most wine-like of spirits, in that both terroir and grape variety are important. A key difference between Armagnac and Cognac is how the wine is distilled. Almost all Armagnac is single distilled in column stills that run continuously at low temperatures. In Cognac, on the other hand, double distillation in pot stills is the norm.

The appellation is split into three sub-regions: Bas-Armagnac, Ténarèze, and Haut-Armagnac. Bas-Armagnac, whose capital is Éauze, accounts for more than half of the vineyard land, much of it planted in sandy, silty soils. A group of villages including Labastide-d’Armagnac, Arthez-d’Armagnac, Le Frêche and several others, with their iron-rich sables fauves soils, are the prime area once called “Grand Bas-Armagnac” or the “Golden Triangle,” which many believe produces the finest brandy in the entire appellation. (Not everyone agrees with this traditional view.)

Ténarèze, whose central town is Condom—yup, you read that right—contributes 40 percent of the production, though is less known. With its pure, earthy, mineral-driven brandies coming from clay and limestone soils, Ténarèze is beloved by many contemporary enthusiasts. Lastly, there is Haut-Armagnac, which produces only three percent of Armagnac’s total production.

Beyond terroir, grapes matter in Armagnac. Officially, 10 grapes are allowed—but in practice only four are mostly used: Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Folle Blanche, and Baco. In Cognac, those first three of these grapes are allowed, but most Cognac is made solely from Ugni Blanc. In Armagnac, the focus is more on blending several of the grapes.

A key difference between Cognac and Armagnac, however, is the use of the Baco grape. A hybrid of Folle Blanche and the North American grape Noah, Baco was created in the late 19th century to withstand the phylloxera plague. For most of the 20th century, Baco was the secret backbone upon which long-aged Armagnac stands. One importer called it “the American muscle car of grapes” that can handle decades of oak. Baco is particularly suited to Bas-Armagnac, and is somewhat less prevalent in the other two sub-regions.

In the 21st century, however, Baco started facing a crisis. The European Union—which officially prohibits hybrid grapes in winemaking—wanted to ban Baco and tried to do so in 2010. A heated legal battle took place, with Armagnac producers doggedly fighting for Baco’s legitimacy. Eventually, a group of influential French sommeliers lobbied on behalf of the grape, and the issue was resolved: Baco would be the only hybrid grape permitted in a European appellation.

One interesting by-product of the Baco controversy is that a number of producers—worried that Baco would be banned—experimented with other approved-but-forgotten grapes. One of these is Plant de Graisse, of which there is fewer than 20 hectares in the world. Château de Laubade planted a bunch of Plant de Graisse in 1997 and its L’Unique #3 bottling (listed below) is made from 100 percent Plant de Graisse.

Finally, Armagnac has traditionally focused more on vintages than Cognac (though this is changing). But be careful about making assumptions about vintages. In Armagnac they’re often long aged, but by regulations, vintages only have to be older than 10 years. The only way to know the age of a vintage is to know when it was bottled (generally, spirits stop evolving once in bottle). As such, a 1972 Armagnac bottled in 1992 is a younger brandy than a 1980 Armagnac bottled in 2018.

Six Armagnac Picks

Château Arton La Réserve Haut-Armagnac ($77)

For years, this has been among my favorite younger expressions of Armagnac. From the supposedly “less prestigious” Haut-Armagnac, Arton’s La Réserve is a unique contrast to Bas-Armagnac and Ténarèze. It’s distilled from a blend of Ugni Blanc and Colombard, and blended from brandies aged a minimum of 6 years. Pretty, with aromas of fresh flowers and chamomile tea, and high-toned on the palate, with delicate pear and marmalade flavors. (45 percent ABV)

L’Encantada XO 4.0 ($105)

Fourth edition of this collaboration between L’Encantada and importer PM Spirits (3,000 bottles produced) and it is the finest version to date. Blended from eight single casks dating from 1986 to 2006 from small estates that L’Encantada sources from. Pretty nose, with aromas of iris, pear blossom, and pastry dough, turns spicy in the mouth, with flashes of cardamom, cinnamon, and peppercorn, balanced by creamy chocolate and mellow gingerbread, and a seamless glide into a long finish. Amazing value. (48.3 percent ABV) Some bottles of earlier editions are still floating around as well.

Château de Laubade L’Unique #3 ($105)

As the label literally says, this is a unique brandy, made from Plant de Graisse—less than 20 hectares of this rare grape is planted worldwide. This 16-year-old is light amber in color with a fresh, pretty nose of fresh-cut flowers, herbs, and spice. On the palate it’s very dry, with white pepper and green tobacco, and even a hint of early rancio. Straight and austere, but really drinkable. (46.3 percent ABV)

Château de Hontambère Ténarèze XO ($130)

Happy that we’re seeing more of this Ténarèze producer in the U.S. This cask-strength XO has a classic, timeless profile. Aromas of pastry, almond paste, and baking spice, great viscous texture in the mouth, spicy and peppery at the edges, and a seamless, mineral finish. A good value introduction to Ténarèze terroir. (53.2 percent ABV)

Château de Lacquy 17-Year Bas-Armagnac ($140)

Château de Lacquy used to label this as XO, but now uses an age statement. A mature, hard-to-find, 17-year-old that whispers instead of shouts. Gentle but precise throughout, with flavors of candied orange, prune, and chocolate at first, then finishing with tobacco and a hint of rancio normally found in longer-aged Armagnac. (43.5 percent ABV)

Domaine d’Espérance 2001 Folle Blanche #75 ($200)

Folle Blanche makes beautiful Armagnac that often can be enjoyed at a younger age. This 21-year-old is so pretty, with a nose full of flowers, herbs, and tobacco, and a palate with layers of maple, baking spice, tobacco, and clay, and a finish of elegant cigar smoke. It’s all balanced by a delicate brightness. (52 percent ABV)

Calvados

For more than a decade, I have attempted to convince more people to try Calvados, the exquisite apple brandy from Normandy—with rather limited success. I first tried, in the late aughts, in the Washington Post (twice actually). In the mid-2010s, I made my pitch at Tales of the Cocktail. In 2018, I tried to elevate Calvados with my critical eye at a highbrow wine publication. I even put in a good word for it in my 2019 book, The Cider Revival.

Let me try again here: now is a perfect time to dive into Calvados, especially at the top end. There’s honestly never been a more exciting time to be a fan of apple brandy from Normandy. Recently, the Interprofession de Appellations Cidricoles (IDAC) launched an expensive “Drink Calvados” marketing campaign with an early aughts indie sleaze vibe that might fit with the hot, trashy Brat Summer aesthetic we’re now experiencing.

The standard answer would be those from Pays d’Auge, the most prestigious bull’s-eye of Calvados’ three appellations, consisting of 3,252 hectares, and more than 50 producers. But who among them are making Calvados expressions that belong on the world stage?

In Pays d’Auge, the quartet of top-quality producers I keep coming back to are Christian Drouin, Adrien Camut, Roger Groult, and Domaine du Coquerel. Sure, there are a few other individual Pays d’Auge bottlings that I love—Château du Breuil 15-year comes to mind. But, for me, Drouin, Camut, Groult, Coquerel all represent the current gold standard in Pays d’Auge.

All three grow their own apples, but in the cellar they have slightly different approaches. Roger Groult and Adrien Camut both used wood-fired stills, and focus mostly on blends and use a solera-like system of aging, adding younger brandies to the older ones. Both estates use very large, decades-old barrels. Christian Drouin, on the other hand, focused on their deep roster of vintages, among the very best in Calvados, and experiments with finishes from different sorts of barrels—port, Sauternes, Banyuls, Rivesaltes, and others.

Over the past few months, I have tasted a string of very exciting Calvados expressions from benchmark producers such as Roger Groult (18-year-old single cask), Christian Drouin (17 year-old, finished in Caroni rum barrel) and Domaine du Coquerel (24 year-old-single cask).

But perhaps the most-awaited new bottles come from a collaboration between French spirits expert Alexandre Vingtier and importer PM Spirits. Vingtier selected three exceptional Calvados casks, a 12-year-old from Domaine Olivier, a 26-year-old from Domaine du Coquerel, and a 45-year-old from Cave Normande.

Vingtier is publisher of French rum magazine, Rumporter, and he writes for La Revue du vin de France, the leading French wine magazine. On my last trip to Cognac in February, Vingtier and I spent an evening at his home, tasting through more than 30 brandy samples, including a dozen Calvados cask selections—a preview of what’s to come in the near future.

Vingtier, who was born in Normandy, insists that his native brandy ticks all the boxes that contemporary spirits geeks desire. “It’s a very unique spirit,” he says. “It’s mostly sourced from small farms and distilleries, with little to no artificial fertilizers, and the fruit of a very well-balanced ecosystem—with cows and horses living next to the trees. It's kind of the French mezcal, as some production is commercial, but still a lot is family-produced for personal consumption.”

He’s convinced that Calvados is ready to be discovered by a worldwide audience. “Think mezcal in the 1990s,” says Vingtier. “Most of Calvados is not released internationally. Most small producers sell directly to consumers on their farm. So many terroirs and expressions have almost never been released. Especially single casks and cask-strength. Have even a hundred Calvados ever been bottled as single cask or cask-strength so far? I doubt it.”

Quartet of Calvados Picks

Domaine du Coquerel Calvados XO ($60)

Coquerel, acquired by the Martin family in 1996, is a Calvados estate to watch. This XO has power and complexity, with aromas of citrus peel, apple blossom, and baking spices, and a round, creamy palate of baked apple, dried fruit, and hazelnut.

Roger Groult 18-Year-Old ($100)

Show me an 18-year-old spirit, in any category, that offers better value than this. Expressive nose, at first full of carmelized apple, then candied citrus, then finally crisp apple peel, herbs, and autumn leaves. Silky and expansive in the mouth, balanced by juicy freshness, baking spice, and mouthwatering acidity at the midpalate. The long, earthy finish is a savory swirl of russeted apple skin, fruit leather, espresso, and wet stone that’s unique for a brandy of this age. (41 percent ABV)

Christian Drouin 2002 ($150)

Bottled in 2021, aged partially in Tokaji casks and finished in Rivesaltes casks, this bottling drinks much older and complex than its age would suggest. Aromas of toffee, apple butter, pineapple pastry, and tobacco swirl on the nose. Lively, bright, and drinkable on the palate with hints of licorice, cardamom, and baked apple and a beautiful finish. Great value. (42 percent ABV)

PM Spirits x Alexandre Vingtier Selections 12-Year ($160)

Single-cask distilled and aged at Domaine Olivier, a top producer in Domfrontais, known for its pear ciders and pear-based brandies. This 50/50 blend of apples and pears comes from 30-year-old organic apple orchards and pear trees that are more than 200 years old. Aged 12 years in French barrique, and it delivers incredible complexity at such a young age. Dark amber, aromas of gingerbread, pineapple pastry, dark chocolate, molasses, and flavors of tropical fruit, quince jam, maple syrup, pepper, licorice, with a long nutty, balsamic, and kirsch-like finish. (47.9 percent ABV)