Cognac has been around since the 17th century and, like bourbon, has a history full of complicated family dynamics and powerful ties to a region. Indeed, cognac and other brandies (cognac is brandy made in and around the Charente Valley in western France) were central ingredients during the dawn of the cocktail: brandy is called for in nearly one out of three recipes in 19th-century cocktail books by Jerry Thomas and Harry Johnson. This is odd, given that cognac is rich and supple and a delight to mix with. But it rarely gets a starring role on the menu. ![]() Served in a snifter and slowly sipped? Or poured in a cup with Coke on the side? As a result, cognac appears dutifully on many cocktail lists in the Sidecar, a classic drink. Thanks to these conflicting clichés of conspicuous consumption, cognac is doing rather well: it broke global sales records last year, with demand driven in large part by China and Russia, where the new capitalists are evidently looking for something blingy, too.īut one area where cognac is not getting as much love is in the craft-cocktail revival, where it seems to be hampered by consumer confusion over who, exactly, is supposed to be drinking it, and how. ![]() Today, you can visit the Library Bar of the Lanesborough Hotel in London and see investment bankers sip pre- Phylloxera cognacs priced at up to $6,500 for a less-than-two-ounce tipple. Cognac has long been a prized and valuable liquor, particularly since a pesky insect called the Phylloxera vastatrix devastated French grape crops in the late 19th century. As with the rap association, this image was anchored in reality. Of course, this new stereotype had to be layered onto a more established one: that of a snooty drink served in snifters in exclusive gentlemen’s clubs. With that, cognac became cartoonish, a symbol of untamed luxury. The informal partnership reached an apogee of sorts in 2009, when Kanye West was filmed guzzling from a bottle of Hennessy on the red carpet of the MTV Video Music Awards, just moments before his infamous Taylor Swift outburst. It wasn’t long before some rappers were negotiating marketing agreements with venerable brands (as Snoop Dogg did with Landy Cognac), while others created their own labels (such as Ludacris’s Conjure cognac and Ice-T’s French brandy, Original Gangster). Conor McGregor – Proper No.T his year marks the 10th anniversary of a seminal moment in the history of cognac: the release of rapper Busta Rhymes’s “Pass the Courvoisier Part II.” The hit triggered a boomlet in sales of Courvoisier and other cognacs and opened the floodgates to references to “yak” in hundreds of hip-hop numbers.Darius Rucker – Backstage Southern Whiskey.Justin Timberlake – Sauza Tequila (with Beam Suntory).This is a reasonably priced mezcal with a premium quality flavor and is a good starting point for the tequila connoisseur looking to change things up. This expression is a smooth blend of the finest Espadin agave, hand-selected from the hillsides in Oaxaca.ĭos Hombres is best enjoyed neat or in a long glass to allow the wild roasted agave flavor and aroma to build upon the nose, before the rich taste of natural zapote fruits, mango, and the hint of smoke builds on the palate. This quality mezcal, with two donkeys on the bottle, is owned by Hollywood stars Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul, who wanted to keep collaborating after the end of Breaking Bad. Dos Hombres Mezcal (Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul) The Casamigos reposado offers an aroma of vanilla, maple, spices, and peanut shells, with the customary tequila heat balanced by sweet tropical fruit and oak.ġ0. This Casamigos Reposado Tequila expression is aged for seven months in white oak barrels, which gives the reposado a chocolate woody taste, which makes it a great option for sipping or drinking neat. Each agave is hand-selected for flavor, then slow-cooked. Maybe two.”Ĭasamigos Tequila is distilled from blue agave plants from the Jalisco Highlands, the heartland of Mexican tequila. ![]() “We’ll still be very much a part of Casamigos. “We’re not going anywhere,” Clooney told the New York Times after the sale. Their start-up investment hit the jackpot just 3 years later, when Diageo bought the tequila brand for around $1 billion, with the initial investor remaining involved. ![]() Hollywood star George Clooney, and friends Randy Gerber and Mike Meldman started Casamigos tequila in 2017.
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