{"id":91821,"date":"2016-04-19T08:13:58","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T08:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6toplists.com\/?p=91821"},"modified":"2016-05-12T11:42:08","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T11:42:08","slug":"best-6-cognacs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/6toplists.com\/?p=91821","title":{"rendered":"Best 6 Cognacs"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is Cognac culture? The first association of<\/strong> Cognac is a well-dressed gentleman<\/strong> sitting on an elegant sofa with an airedale terrier sleeping besides him. But that is just an impression of the past.<\/p>\n

[CustomTables]<\/strong><\/p>\n

The situation has changed meanwhile: Cognac lives it’s renaissance<\/strong> as the favorite drink of the biggest hip-hop artists, as Sean \u201cP. Diddy\u201d Combs, Jay-Z<\/a>, Snoop Dog and Ludacris.<\/p>\n

Despite the great enthusiasm of these rappers, the conservative French Cognac world distances itself from the gangsta culture<\/strong>, while the afro-Americans use it to distinguish themselves from white cultural lifestyle.<\/p>\n

The two world is really different: rappers sing about cars, money, women and other materialistic things, which is hardly reconcilable with the low-key elegance of Cognac gentlemen. But in spite of all these, rap did a great service to Cognac industry<\/strong>. It acquired a lot of new young customers, and opened new fronts in the US market. Read a verse of a rap song about Cognac:<\/p>\n

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\u201eJust by the way she kiss me
\nHold her wit the index and thumb tippsy
\nMa I\u2019m so trippy
\nHard to hold back, scent so sweet
\nGot to Cognac and honey wrap her this ain\u2019t drink
\nFrom Taiwanese to Amsterdam greeny green
\nTo hydromic that make a weak stomach vomit:\u201d<\/p>\n

– Gangsta Lean (The Clipse)<\/p>\n

Cognac became very big between 2001 and 2007, but the economic crisis was harsh to this particular branch also. The numbers of the UK export fell dramatically<\/strong> from 55 million bottles in 2007 to 43,4 million bottles in 2009. But thank God recently a recovery has begun from the nadir. As said before, cognac houses drew a huge benefit from Rap stars<\/strong>. Landy uses Snoop Dogg as their spokesman, T.I. Promotes R\u00e9my Martin and Ludacris works for Birkedal-Hartmann’s & Tiffon’s.<\/p>\n

Today there is such a huge demand for Cognac that France exports the 97 percent of their Cognac<\/strong> product to the rest of the world. The USA is the largest purchaser, using up 3,9 million 9-liter cases of the spirit in 2012 alone. The second and third largest Cognac drinking nation is China and Russia. \u201ePass the Courvoisier<\/a>\u201d, a famous song of Busta Rhymes and Puff Daddy is about the exclusivity of the beverage, claiming that it has been fabricated for the rich and the fabulous<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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By the way, what is Cognac? Every Cognac is Brandy, but not all Brandy is Cognac. But what is Brandy? Brandy is a spirit distilled from fermented grapes<\/strong>. The story is similar to Champagne. Only the Brandys distilled in France’s Cognac county have the right to call themselves Cognac. It is all about the prestige<\/strong>, the name, the brand and luxury.<\/p>\n

There are six regions in Cognac: Bols Ordinaire, Bons Bois, Borderies, Petite Champagne, and Grand Champagne (which has nothing to do with it’s name relative up in the north). Cognac is a blend of different eau du vie (water of life in French). Have you ever recognized the letters VS, VSOP and XO<\/strong> on the Cognac bottles? It signifies the duration of the aging process in the oak barrels.<\/p>\n

The longer the aging, the more subtle will be the spirit. VS means \u201eVery Special\u201d<\/strong> (the youngest spirit in the blend is minimum 2 years old), VSOP means \u201eVery Superior Old Pale<\/strong>\u201d (the same as before, but with 4 years) and XO means \u201eExtra Old\u201d<\/strong> (6 years). Prices vary from 30 dollars to ten thousands of dollars (like Remy Martin’s Louis XIII), it all depends on the brand and the quality, which two is not inevitably connected. Let’s run through the following list, which I compiled of the best Cognacs in the world<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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6. R\u00e9my Martin<\/h2>\n

\"best<\/p>\n

The business was founded by R\u00e9my Martin<\/a> in 1724. The grapes used in this special spirit come from the best areas in Cognac<\/strong>: the Grande Champagne and the Petite Champagne (Champagne refers to a type of soil, which is full of chalk \u201cI think to fully realize one\u2019s potential, you must take action, remain curious, embrace your failures as they are gifts, and honor your successes with humility,<\/em>\u201d says Jeremy Renner<\/a>, a face accompanied to the firm, an actor who don’t want to be put in boxes.<\/p>\n

Louis XIII<\/a> is undoubtedly the most special and finest produc<\/strong>t of this famous Cognac house. It is blended from 1200 eaux de vie and fermented in several hundred years old oak barrels called tier\u00e7ons. <\/em>It’s average price range is between 2100 to 3100 dollars<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nqnLXJng0C0<\/p>\n

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5. Courvoisier<\/h2>\n

\"best<\/p>\n

The Cognac house takes place in Jarnac<\/a>, Charente. The firm was established in 1809<\/strong> by Emmanuel Courvoisier and Louis Gallois as a trading company, but later they recognized that production would be more interesting.<\/p>\n

In 1828 they moved from the Paris region to Charente. They started to produce high quality cognacs<\/strong>. In 1909 the house was sold to the English Simon family, but it remained in Jarnac. Courvoisier Cognacs are aged in 200 years old barrels made of oak from the Tron\u00e7ais forest<\/a> in France.<\/p>\n

The Cognac appears in many movies and songs<\/strong>, as the \u201eSkyfall\u201d James Bond film, \u201eLove and Death\u201d from Woody Allen or the songs of Fleetwood Mac and Busta Rhymes. Courvoisier is the only brand that received the \u2018Prestige de la France\u2019 award<\/strong> in 1984, which -as the name indicates- is a really prestigious one.<\/p>\n