Cognac is the best known, and most consumed, grape-based spirit in the world, a leading light of the French export sector, 90 percent of which is sold outside of France. In fact, the United States is the planet’s largest market for Cognac, bigger than France itself, with a huge buy-in from the hip-hop set! But France’s other great brandy, Armagnac, is the older, more artisanal spirit, and the more intriguing, despite its second fiddle status and relative obscurity here.
When comparing these two great brandies, the French have a saying: “Cognac is like a refined young woman you could bring home to mother, while Armagnac is like a lusty woman of a certain age who you wouldn’t want for your mother.” Which one sounds more fun? Armagnac is the more robust, hedonistic experience.
