What non Whiskey or Rum Spirit (Cognac, Mezcal, Calvados etc) are we drinking?

Cazale

A thread for those spirits that don't fit into the whiskey or Rum threads. Recently getting into Cognac so hoping to educate myself more on that and other spirits along the way.

Weepsie

Can we get on the white port train here.

White port and tonic with a garnish of orange and some ice. Lovely stuff.

Cazale

First reply has to be this bargain from Tesco. Hennessy Xo Cognac reduced from €152 down to €75. Celtic Whiskey have it for an eye watering €205. Picked up the last bottle in my local Tesco this afternoon and a friend tried a few branches with no luck later.

Cazale

Weepsie wrote:

Can we get on the white port train here.

Haven't tried Port much. Got a mini pack of Graham’s Port which includes a Fine White Port. I'll have to give it a go soon. Any brands to recommend?

odyssey06

Having a Delamain XO Cognac... average age 25 years. How to describe it... after the first sip there is like a secondary reaction / flavour explosion kicking in.

Am also partial to:
Martell VSOP
Courvoisier VS
Sainsburys 12yo Armagnac
Sainsburys Calvados X.O. 12 Year Old

odyssey06

Weepsie wrote: »

Can we get on the white port train here.
White port and tonic with a garnish of orange and some ice. Lovely stuff.

Aye the OH likes the Niepoort white port in summer in similar manner.

odyssey06

Cazale wrote: »

Haven't tried Port much. Got a mini pack of Graham’s Port which includes a Fine White Port. I'll have to give it a go soon. Any brands to recommend?

You wont go wrong with Niepoort for anything Port related.

Offies eg Martins sometimes have half bottles which are a good way to try / sample occasionally.

Black Sheep

Weepsie wrote: »

Can we get on the white port train here.

White port and tonic with a garnish of orange and some ice. Lovely stuff.

I love a dry white port!

dobman88

Posted in whiskey thread earlier, so thanks for starting this off Cazale. Hopefully someone can give some pointers

Never got into brandy. Used to drink it sometimes when I was locked with diet coke and it wasn't unpleasant.

I'd have a general idea of what I like and what to look for in whiskey. What does brandy bring to the table and what should I be looking for when I drink it?

BonnieSituation

odyssey06 wrote: »

You wont go wrong with Niepoort for anything Port related.

Offies eg Martins sometimes have half bottles which are a good way to try / sample occasionally.

I got herself into port on foot of our local cafe set up a port club to keep them ticking over before Christmas. Weekly fills of the hip flask. Nice way to contribute without buying their overpriced grub.

Loads of it was Niepoort. Very nice stuff alright.

Been at a fair few rum (and cheese) tastings over the years and they're incredible but as a drink it's a dangerous drop. Moreish is not the word!

On the shelf right now:

BonnieSituation

killbillvol2 wrote: »

I got the box!

I got a box as well.

It's an awful shíte box for the RRP!

The bottle and the colour, notwithstanding the caramelized nature of it, is just sumptuous!

Dont be at yourself

Picked up some Pisco for Pisco Sours, lovely drop!

Cazale

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Picked up some Pisco for Pisco Sours, lovely drop!

A description of Pisco below from Celtic Whiskey for the uninitiated. I've only tried it once in a cocktail bar in Belfast. Attached the description of it. I remember it was a mighty fine cocktail. Any tips on what to buy and where etc?

Pisco is the native spirit in Peru and is also distilled in Chile. A wide variety of grapes can be used although the most common is Quebranta. The brandy is only made in pot stills and is bottled at its natural strength. It is more similar to an unaged brandy than a grappa and is the essential ingredient in a pisco sour.

Cazale

Celtic Whiskey are doing a Chateau Du Breuil Calvados Tasting at the end of March.

5 x 30ml which includes samples of the Chateau Du Breuil 8 Year Old, 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, 20 Year Old and Sauternes.

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Chateau-Du-Breuil-Calvados-Tasting-Pack-31st-March-Eu

BonnieSituation made me sign up to this one. I have a couple of other Calvados miniatures that I've yet to try. There has been a few Irish Whiskey Calvados finishes recently so it'll be interesting to try the source.

Dont be at yourself

Cazale wrote: »

A description of Pisco below from Celtic Whiskey for the uninitiated. I've only tried it once in a cocktail bar in Belfast. Attached the description of it. I remember it was a mighty fine cocktail. Any tips on what to buy and where etc?

Pisco is the native spirit in Peru and is also distilled in Chile. A wide variety of grapes can be used although the most common is Quebranta. The brandy is only made in pot stills and is bottled at its natural strength. It is more similar to an unaged brandy than a grappa and is the essential ingredient in a pisco sour.

I'm an ingenue, picked up the below bottle from CWS as a punt. Very different to your regular aged brandy -- plenty of sweetness, and closer to a light rum than a cognac to my palette.

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/capel-pisco-especial

odyssey06

Cazale wrote: »

Celtic Whiskey are doing a Chateau Du Breuil Calvados Tasting at the end of March.
5 x 30ml which includes samples of the Chateau Du Breuil 8 Year Old, 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, 20 Year Old and Sauternes.
https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Chateau-Du-Breuil-Calvados-Tasting-Pack-31st-March-Eu

I thought about signing up for that tasting but reckon I'll use the budget to buy a bottle of the Chateau Du Breuil instead, when I have shelf space!

killbillvol2

Cazale wrote: »

Celtic Whiskey are doing a Chateau Du Breuil Calvados Tasting at the end of March.

5 x 30ml which includes samples of the Chateau Du Breuil 8 Year Old, 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, 20 Year Old and Sauternes.

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Chateau-Du-Breuil-Calvados-Tasting-Pack-31st-March-Eu

BonnieSituation made me sign up to this one. I have a couple of other Calvados miniatures that I've yet to try. There has been a few Irish Whiskey Calvados finishes recently so it'll be interesting to try the source.

I'm going to have to add you to my ignore list!

Looks like a good way to try out some Calvados. I've had it a few times and liked it but never think of buying it.

BonnieSituation

Cazale wrote: »

Celtic Whiskey are doing a Chateau Du Breuil Calvados Tasting at the end of March.

5 x 30ml which includes samples of the Chateau Du Breuil 8 Year Old, 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, 20 Year Old and Sauternes.

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Chateau-Du-Breuil-Calvados-Tasting-Pack-31st-March-Eu

BonnieSituation made me sign up to this one. I have a couple of other Calvados miniatures that I've yet to try. There has been a few Irish Whiskey Calvados finishes recently so it'll be interesting to try the source.

Oh yeah, it's ALL my fault.

Cazale

BonnieSituation wrote:

Oh yeah, it's ALL my fault.

I have to blame somebody.

Cazale

killbillvol2 wrote:

I'm going to have to add you to my ignore list!

I wish I could ignore myself at times.

Effects

Cazale wrote: »

Celtic Whiskey are doing a Chateau Du Breuil Calvados Tasting at the end of March.

I might try that tasting. I've only done a quick calvados tasting before, in France.
I generally only drink one bottle a year. But I prefer the bottle I bought in 2019 compared to the 2020.

limnam

Got this in over xmas as i couldn't get my hands on a bottle of dows.

Was very enjoyable lovely clarity on the fruit with a bit of a nutty spicey kick.



Paired beautifully with some mature Reypenaer

Cazale

limnam wrote:

Was very enjoyable lovely clarity on the fruit with a bit of a nutty spicey kick.

limnam wrote:

Paired beautifully with some mature Reypenaer

Now we are talking! Where did you pick up the Reypenaer?

Cazale

Reading up Armagnac recently. It's another spirit I intend to start collecting. I'll start off with samples and progress to some large bottles. I'll post a series of information over the next few days on its production, history and bottles to try etc.

The Armagnac region, in the very heart of Aquitaine, is west of Toulouse and south-east of Bordeaux. Wine has been made there for over 2000 years, and white wine has been distilled there since the Middle Ages.

Armagnac is the oldest wine spirit in the world, as attested to in a document written by the monk Vital du Four in 1310. He describes an “eau ardente” – or pungent water, and praises its medicinal properties. Today, Armagnac is obtained by distilling white wine in a column still, though the still has evolved over time, as is described further on.

Indeed eau-de-vie has been made in Armagnac since the Middle Ages, however trade in spirits only started in an organised fashion in the early 18th century, with the development of commercial contacts with Dutch merchants. This is precisely the era – 1711 – that Château de Lacquy was purchased to produce Armagnac. The Armagnac region is landlocked and never benefited from the extraordinary commercial development that Cognac enjoyed due to the navigability of the Charente river. As a result Armagnac remained an artisanal product which today endows it with its specific aura and its character.

The appellation was created in the 20th century, first by the Decree of 25 May 1909 which defined the production area, then by the Decree of 6 August 1936 which created the AOC.

Today there are 5,135 hectares identified in the appellation, of which 1,980 were used in for distillation in 2016. This contrasts with the 75,000 hectares for the Cognac appellation. 3 million bottles of Armagnac are sold each year, approximately half in France and half on the export market. Another contrast with Cognac: the Hennessy firm in Cognac sold 72 million bottles of Cognac in 2015, which is more than 20 times the entire Armagnac appellation.

Armagnac is indeed a rare and deluxe product.

interlocked

About eight years ago, I was in Paris, drinking in a bar and I decided that when in Paris I might as well drink Armagnac, the Frenchman beside me was doing the same and we started chatting, he told me that his job was a photographer for a magazine for the watchmaker Patek Philippe. he said that once you bought one of their watches, you got this regular magazine that was sent to you for life and it continued to their children or grandchildren until you told their company to stop. He said that he was heading off in the morning to some exotic location that I cant remember.

Now, I had heard of the brand and I knew that they were seriously high end, so I asked him would €10,000 be a ballpark figure for a watch, he put down the glass, looked at me and said with a laugh, "That would be considered a first communion watch"

As he said himself, he didn't own one, and neither will I, but it's amazing the stories you hear when you say hello at a bar. And no, I didn't wasn't cultured enough to sniff the Armagnac, was amazing I think!

limnam

Cazale wrote: »

Now we are talking! Where did you pick up the Reypenaer?

A friend coming through schipol airport picked it up for me.


But you can buy it online on their website.


I've purchased from them a few times in the past, no issues.

Cazale

interlocked wrote:

As he said himself, he didn't own one, and neither will I, but it's amazing the stories you hear when you say hello at a bar. And no, I didn't wasn't cultured enough to sniff the Armagnac, was amazing I think!

Great story. One of the greatest casualties of the pandemic is stories like that. I've tried many a great whiskey over the last year but I don't have stories or memories outside of the kitchen table for most of them.

Cazale

The story of Armagnac continued.

The Armagnac region is divided into 3 growing areas: the “Bas-Armagnac” (3,480 hectares in 2016), the “Ténarèze” (1,588 hectares in 2016) and the “Haut-Armagnac” (68 hectares in 2016), and spreads over 3 French counties, les Landes, Gers and Lot-et-Garonne. The vines that grow grapes for the production of Armagnac cover between 5,000 and 5,500 hectares depending on the year, whereas the entire vineyard for the region covers 15,000 hectares and is primarily destined for the production of Côtes de Gascogne wines and Floc.

What is the difference between Haut-Armagnac and Bas-Armagnac?

Bas-Armagnac is the northernmost part of Armagnac. Its name comes from the fact that it is quite simply the lowest geographical area in Armagnac: 60 to 120 metres altitude as compared to 150 to 200 metres altitude for Haut-Armagnac. Bas-Armagnac spreads across county Gers and the county of Les Landes and is considered to be the region which produces the finest and most aromatic eau-de-vie spirits. The most famous area within Bas-Armagnac used to be called the “Grand bas-Armagnac » or “Grand-Bas”.

The primary differences between Armagnac and Cognac relate to the soils, the varietals, the artisanal nature of Armagnac production, and the type of still that is used for distillation. The Cognac still is a pot still whilst the Armagnac still is a continuous column still.

Thus, Cognac is distilled twice. The first time between 28% and 32% alcohol (the first distillate, known as “brouillis”) then this brouillis is redistilled between 68% to 72% alcohol. Armagnac, on the other hand, is distilled only once, generally between 52% and 56% alcohol.

Cognac is primarily made from distilling wines made from Ugni-blanc grapes, whereas Armagnac is primarily distilled from wines made from Ugni-blanc, Baco and Colombard grapes.

A further difference is that Armagnac is generally an artisanal product that remains closely connected to its terroir and the grape varietals, whereas Cognac is for all practical purposes an industrial product. In 2017, worldwide, 3,000,000 bottles of Armagnac were sold compared to 197,000,000 bottles of Cognac. 80% of the Cognac sold is sold by Hennessy, Martell, Rémy-Cointreau and Courvoisier.

the beer revolu

It's most odd the the more artisnal armagnac uses the more industrial, modern type of still, isn't it?

It seems by the figures that they use the column stills in an unusual way, producing a relatively low abv spirit.

BonnieSituation

Her birthday finally came and the XO was greatly received.

Never seen her enjoy spirit neat before. Though round two got some ice stuck in. Good times.



Caramel or not it's a serious colour on it.

Black Sheep

Wasn't Hennessy X.O mixed with Coca Cola the previous North Korean dictator's drink of choice?

Ah here we go- https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/12/23/hennessy-responds-to-the-loss-of-its-best-customer/