Well I guess that I am a dinosaur. I like cognac, and (since I read your post about it) I like Armagnac. I love Calvados, and I also like Spanish brandies like Carlos Primera and Cardinal Mendoza. I only drink them neat. There is nothing better at the end of the evening, when dinner and dessert are finished and there are only dregs in the red wine bottle and you cannot bear to open another bottle but...you want a drink. The Germans call it the "Absacker," the last drink of the night before you collapse into bed, happy and satisfied and at peace with yourself. A good practice, it works with Eau de Vie from Alsace or Schnapps from the Black Forest, too, and one that should be embraced by all who just want a little bit more, but not too much.
Great piece, Jason. Thinking about Cognac from my point of view as a tour operator, the difficulty of persuading people to visit the Charentes kind of parallels the difficulty of getting people to drink Cognac. It’s right there, adjacent to Bordeaux, and yet . . . it’s just not in their consciousness.
It’s a shame because as you say, there are so many small, artisanal producers to visit and the history of the spirit is fascinating. You can even nerd out on varietal Pineau des Charentes. I mean c’mon people!
But it’s not just Americans who aren’t drinking it. The French aren’t really drinking it anymore either. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. The big houses have visitors’ centers/tasting rooms that cost just silly money to operate. Even for these luxury brands, one wonders how long they can pour money into them if the world just isn’t drinking it.
Speaking as a BNIC-certified cognac educator, I'm disheartened that all of our work in the US over the last decade to educate the American bar industry seems to have gone up in smoke. Something I've learned in my career as an educator is that the value of such a program lies in its persistence, as generational evolution in the bar industry happens quickly. If you train one bartender who becomes a lawyer in 4 years, and another from the same class who opens a bar, you may have impacted one personally and the other professionally, making it difficult to stack those who will become game changers as true influencers. If you curtail the process because of a downturn in the industry, your ten-year investment is for naught. That's what the BNIC is doing now, and it's a shame. The Industry finally started loosening its strict controls on "what cognac is" to allow newer generations of producers to innovate products and compete against other spirits. These products began appearing just as COVID hit. The last 5 years have been more than just tumultuous, but it's not the first time the industry has seen a downturn. This down market has so many complex factors that I think they will all try to get by in hibernation mode and see what the next 5 years bring. Even the next 1-2 will be telling, and then perhaps, it'll be time to rebuild.
I agree with you, but I think the BNIC bears a lot of the blame. The organization is so dominated by the big brands and their messaging doesn't resonate with the contemporary spirits enthusiast. Maybe they're finally at long last starting to loosen controls, but for too long they've focused on VSOP and XO when people wanted age statments and transparency, focused on crystal decanters and bling when people wanted something authentic. Idk what the answer is but I know the BNIC is a big part of the problem.
In my experience, Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, and Eau de Vie have to be hand sold by the Somm or bartender. Very little organic sales even from guests with plenty of spending power and interest in wine or other spirits. My theories on why:
- Very few widely available options outside of big brands.
- Those brands have completely lost the marketing battle. Guests who want to show their friends and clients how cool and rich they are drink Clase Azul, Grey Goose, Don Julio, etc
I have some 40yr Armagnac on the top shelf in my wine pantry and that’s where it stays. I offer it to guests and all pass. Only my son and I drink it, similar tastes I guess. At least the price is good, due to low demand
Well I guess that I am a dinosaur. I like cognac, and (since I read your post about it) I like Armagnac. I love Calvados, and I also like Spanish brandies like Carlos Primera and Cardinal Mendoza. I only drink them neat. There is nothing better at the end of the evening, when dinner and dessert are finished and there are only dregs in the red wine bottle and you cannot bear to open another bottle but...you want a drink. The Germans call it the "Absacker," the last drink of the night before you collapse into bed, happy and satisfied and at peace with yourself. A good practice, it works with Eau de Vie from Alsace or Schnapps from the Black Forest, too, and one that should be embraced by all who just want a little bit more, but not too much.
I'm probably a dinosaur too.
Great piece, Jason. Thinking about Cognac from my point of view as a tour operator, the difficulty of persuading people to visit the Charentes kind of parallels the difficulty of getting people to drink Cognac. It’s right there, adjacent to Bordeaux, and yet . . . it’s just not in their consciousness.
It’s a shame because as you say, there are so many small, artisanal producers to visit and the history of the spirit is fascinating. You can even nerd out on varietal Pineau des Charentes. I mean c’mon people!
But it’s not just Americans who aren’t drinking it. The French aren’t really drinking it anymore either. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. The big houses have visitors’ centers/tasting rooms that cost just silly money to operate. Even for these luxury brands, one wonders how long they can pour money into them if the world just isn’t drinking it.
Speaking as a BNIC-certified cognac educator, I'm disheartened that all of our work in the US over the last decade to educate the American bar industry seems to have gone up in smoke. Something I've learned in my career as an educator is that the value of such a program lies in its persistence, as generational evolution in the bar industry happens quickly. If you train one bartender who becomes a lawyer in 4 years, and another from the same class who opens a bar, you may have impacted one personally and the other professionally, making it difficult to stack those who will become game changers as true influencers. If you curtail the process because of a downturn in the industry, your ten-year investment is for naught. That's what the BNIC is doing now, and it's a shame. The Industry finally started loosening its strict controls on "what cognac is" to allow newer generations of producers to innovate products and compete against other spirits. These products began appearing just as COVID hit. The last 5 years have been more than just tumultuous, but it's not the first time the industry has seen a downturn. This down market has so many complex factors that I think they will all try to get by in hibernation mode and see what the next 5 years bring. Even the next 1-2 will be telling, and then perhaps, it'll be time to rebuild.
I agree with you, but I think the BNIC bears a lot of the blame. The organization is so dominated by the big brands and their messaging doesn't resonate with the contemporary spirits enthusiast. Maybe they're finally at long last starting to loosen controls, but for too long they've focused on VSOP and XO when people wanted age statments and transparency, focused on crystal decanters and bling when people wanted something authentic. Idk what the answer is but I know the BNIC is a big part of the problem.
In my experience, Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, and Eau de Vie have to be hand sold by the Somm or bartender. Very little organic sales even from guests with plenty of spending power and interest in wine or other spirits. My theories on why:
- Very few widely available options outside of big brands.
- Those brands have completely lost the marketing battle. Guests who want to show their friends and clients how cool and rich they are drink Clase Azul, Grey Goose, Don Julio, etc
I have some 40yr Armagnac on the top shelf in my wine pantry and that’s where it stays. I offer it to guests and all pass. Only my son and I drink it, similar tastes I guess. At least the price is good, due to low demand