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Subject: Re: French wine and spirit exports see bumper year Posted on: Thu, 28 Dec 2006 17:01:31 +0000 (UTC)

TMOliver wrote:
> "Earl Evleth" wrote ...
> > On 28/12/06 6:15, in article
>
> "Iceman"> wrote:
> >
> >> I can see that. Outside of the hip-hop community, cognac is drunk in
> >> small amounts by connoisseurs.
> >
> >
> > I prefer Armagnac over Cognac. Both are "digestifs", consumed
> > after a meal. There are others. Calvados when it is quality
> > stuff, is also nice and of course the Italian grappa and other
> > "eau de vie".
>
> In recent years, especially among more affluent African Americans, cognac -
> only the better known and promoted brands - consumption has risen, however,
> it should be noted that most orders are for "Cognac & Coke" (or Pepsi, a
> frightening comment on palates and imagined sophistication).

Kind of defeats the point I think. Might as well just have Bacardi and
Coke, not waste cognac when you won't really taste it.

> "Crown Royal, a Canadian style whisky with elevated price and promotion (but
> not quality) has similarly been populized among Blacks. These days, I'd hardly
> buy a popular brand of cognac, realizing that there's no way to keep up the
> quality with the increase in demand.

That's probably true of the lower grades, but the XO barrels were
started years before cognac's recent surge in popularity.

> Even all the undrinkable wine from the Charente can't find enough casks
> to hold and age its distillate. Armagnac's a better bet (and still better than
> most of the over sweet, too caramelized Spanish brandies).

I never liked Spanish brandies, for the reasons you state.