Chateau du Breuil, Calvados VSOP & Cognac Park Cognac VS, 40%

I do like miniatures.

The opportunity to explore new categories of spirits with contrasting styles at reasonable prices.

Doing an WSET L2 in Spirits course a while ago widened my horizons to the tasty delights of Brandy – under which Calvados & Cognac both reside.

Calvados – made from apples – & Cognac – from grapes – adhere to French rules & regulations relating to how, where & what they are distilled from.

Picking these up in the Celtic Whiskey Shop allows me to compare the two differing spirits.

Chateau du Breuil, Calvados VSOP, 40%

Quite a distinctive bottle on this one!

Exhibits a shade lighter pale brown than the cognac. Fresh, fruity dry cider nose with caramelly undertones. Clean & crisp on the palate. The barrel ageing is evident with some tannic spiciness & a decent warmth.

A pleasantly refreshing little number.

Cognac Park, Cognac VS, 40%

Presented in an elegant elongate bottle.

A deeper, richer caramelly nose presents itself. The palate has a rounder feel, redolent with fruity warmth flowing into a surprising tangy, lip-smacking spicy finish.

Nice

Thoughts

I like the cidery start to the Calvados – & the spicy finish of the Cognac.

Both of these brandies show the diversity of the category.

It’s a category I enjoy exploring.

Sláinte

Distiller article on Calvados here.

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Courvoisier VSOP Cognac, 40% vs Sainsbury’s Napoleon Brandy VSOP, 36%

This bottle cost £5.

This one £6.25.

Which one to purchase exercises many a customer.

Do you go for the big brand Cognac?

Or the lottery of a supermarket own label Brandy?

Being a blogger I purchased both – with the express intention of doing a back-to-back taste comparison.

Honouring accepted practice I started with the lowest ABV first.

Sainsbury’s Napoleon Brandy VSOP, 36%

Now it doesn’t state Sainsbury’s on the front of the rather plain label – but it’s clearly displayed on the rear.

There’s a confusing trio of terms giving mixed messages.

‘Napoleon’ denotes aged in oak & ‘Aged 3 Years’ is the youngest of the blending components – but ‘VSOP’ suggests 4 years in Cognac terms. Perhaps it doesn’t mean the same for Brandy?

Presented in a plastic bottle at 36% & labelled as Brandy clearly reduces the costs – but does it impact on the flavour?

Golden brown in colour. Soft nose of gentle sweet dark plums follows through into a mild – yet rich & warming – palate. Develops a slightly prickly finish fading slowly away.

An attractive easy going brandy with a touch of flair on the rear.

Courvoisier VSOP Cognac, 40%

Courvoisier pours an identical colour to Napoleon. The nose is rather shy too – but lifted by hints of woodiness. A similar mild palate grows with tannic spiciness on the rear.

The woody oakiness lifts this Cognac’s appeal.

Thoughts

For such a large price difference I was expecting a lot more from Courvoisier.

What I experienced were 2 very similarly tasting brandies with only the extra ageing giving an oaky lift to the cognac.

Given Sainsbury’s lists the 70cl bottles at £11.50 for Napoleon & £38 for Courvoisier – I’d rather spend my money exploring other brandy varieties before choosing the big brand again.

Sláinte

Prices listed March 2023 on Sainsbury’s webpage here.

Courvoisier website here.

Is Black Fungus The New Threat For Whiskey?

At first glance it would appear so!

World famous Jack Daniel’s recently faced a set back due to the unsightly fungus.

As reported by BBC.com

Distilleries round the globe have also experienced court cases focused on fungus – which clearly adds delays & inevitably cost to the industry, ultimately being passed on to the consumer.

As reported in the Scotsman

So what is black fungus?

In the wonderful world of nature wherever there is a food source there will be an organism to take advantage of it.

The food source here is ethanol vapour.

Black fungus is the organism – or to give it a scientific name – Baudoinia compniacenis.

Originally identified back in the 1870’s inhabiting surfaces around Cognac Distilleries in France – It has now spread globally.

Research on it has been minimal – but will obviously ramp up in gear now financial implications are in play.

Modern papers on the fungus now show there are sub-species that feed on differing spirits. A case of whiskey fungus, cognac fungus, tequila fungus perhaps? And yet another example of the diversity of nature to exploit niche habitats.

Not only that. Species of micro moths which eat fungus have been found clustered around distilleries too!

Solutions to the problem are being sought.

The simplest is a cordon of trees around the facility to capture the black fungus before it escapes into the wider environment – & no, the trees aren’t hurt. This was proposed at the Moyvore Maturation site consultation meeting I attended back in 2017.

Maybe higher tech devices such as vapour recovery or spray suppressants are being investigated for more space restricted sites.

Whatever the outcome – it must be stated the brandy industry suffered a collapse due to a tiny organism – who remembers Phylloxera?

Image courtesy Irish Times here.

Having an interest in both whiskey and nature, it’s clear the Angel’s Share so venerated by the whiskey industry has a dirty secret!

Science paper on Black Fungus here.

My blog on Moyvore here.

Blog on differing species of black fungus here.

Phylloxera article here.

Cognac Park Borderies, 10 Year Old Mizunara Cask, Single Cru Cognac, 44%

Mizunara – or Japanese Oak – is all the rage right now.

A growing number of whiskey companies are choosing to finish their precious liquid in this exotic, rare & difficult to work with wood.

Why?

To extract some of the fabulous flavours from the wood & enhance the drinking experience.

Other spirits categories are likely to follow & on spotting this Cognac Park Mizunara Cask – I had to try it!

Golden brown in colour, there’s subtle aromas of light sandalwood contrasting with the dark fruitiness expected from an aged cognac.

The light & fresh appeal carries through on tasting – definitely an alternative experience to some heavier cognacs.

The finish excites with a prickly heat, tannic spiciness & sweet fruits.

An impressive & welcome innovative experiment into Mizunara finishing in the cognac world.

Sláinte

For further reading on Mizunara see webpage here.

Cognac Park website here.

Tesco Napoleon Brandy, 3 Years Old, 36%

Why did I buy Tesco Napoleon Brandy?

A number of reasons.

To begin with it was there, on the shelf, in my local store, and in a 350ml bottle too, making it both accessible & affordable – increasingly important factors in the current economic climate.

Further, my St Remy VSOP Brandy, initially purchased for an WSET course back in 2019, was nearing it’s end. I found the brandy world shared – like whiskey – a set of rules & regulations governing it’s production – as well as a long history – plus barrel ageing too & I enjoyed the drinking experience, encouraging me to explore more.

Tesco Napoleon appeared a shade darker than my St Remy, suggestive of extra caramel, a permissible added ingredient for the category – just like whiskey.

Quite a shy nose – not very aromatic for me – soft sweet winey elements are all I got.

Smooth, soft mouthfeel, easy on the palate.

Dark notes of burnt caramel & a tingling warmth surfaced on the finish giving Tesco Napoleon a bit of a lift.

Lacked any hints of oakiness I enjoyed with St Remy.

After sampling Tesco Napoleon I read the label – Mellow And Smooth Taste – it says.

A very accurate appraisal of what I found.

Sláinte

Read my study method for the WSET exam here.

For an interesting read on ingredients in brandy see cognacreverie.com blog here.

WSET website here.

St Remy VSOP review here.

A Flight Of 4 French Whiskies, Rozelieures Origine, Rare, Tourbé & Fumé, Single Malts, 40% to 46%

Continuing my exploration of the whisky world are these 4 single malts from grain to glass French Whisky distillery Rozelieures.

I sampled them before looking up anything on the web – it helps to eliminate any undue bias – & found them mainly on the light & easy side of the flavour spectrum.

Origine Single Malt 40%

Distilled from grain grown on the Rozelieures farm places this whisky in a select club of producers claiming terroir credentials.

Origine didn’t particularly shine for me however.

The flavours were soft, muted & mild – a touch of honeyed malt, hints of rustique agriculture, an easy going palate with an appreciative bite on the finish displaying woody spices & sweet vanilla.

Grand.

Rare Single Malt 40%

A fresher & cleaner style of malt.

Easy & smooth – almost to the point of being laidback – trés tranquille – perhaps deliberately so.

I’ve been told by distillers exporting into France the market shys away from bold flavours – so Rare is probably playing up to that.

Tourbé Single Malt 46%

Tourbé means peaty – yet I had a hard job picking this up from the very light straw coloured whisky.

There was a gorgeously dry & tingly spiciness on the finish however with subtle hints of smoke.

A 2nd tasting drew out more & Tourbé proved to be an enticing soft smoker.

Fumé Single Malt 46%

A more ‘traditional’ style of smokiness was evident with Fumé.

Old leather & cigar smoke on the nose.

The mild & easy palate gave way to a delightful crescendo of smokiness which dried out leaving a tingling spice finish.

Nice!

Thoughts

French whisky is growing fast.

A Federation has been formed to further the category of which Rozelieures – with their engaging & entertaining single malts – is part of.

Being a fan of bigger, badder & bolder flavours Fumé was the one for me – but I did find the subtlety of Tourbé enticing.

Perhaps with the opening up of travel restrictions after COVID a distillery tour trip of French Distilleries is in order!

Santé

Bottle images courtesy Whisky Rozelieures.

St Rémy VSOP, French Brandy, 40%

Doing the Wine & Spirit Education Trust – WSET – Level 2 Spirits Course a few years ago opened my palate to spirit categories I hadn’t appreciated before.

Brandy being one of them.

This St Rémy bottle is a leftover from that course.

You have to taste a variety of spirits to pick out the characteristics of each category.

It looks like a whiskey.

The nose is sweet & fruity.

Soft, smooth & mellow on the palate.

Finishes with a gentle oaky spice.

An easy approachable drinker to sit back & mull over – if it wasn’t for the phylloxera epidemic of the 1860’s that wiped out most of the grapevines worldwide – could brandy have been as big as whiskey?

Sláinte

All images authors own.

Rince Cochon Biere, 7.5% to 8.5%, Belgium

Belgium is a beer lovers paradise.

The sheer variety of styles on offer & – from my limited experience – high quality results are a delight to explore.

So when some buddies suggest bringing a few back to Ireland – you don’t refuse.

The garishly coloured yet striking selection pack from Difcom – a beer distributer based in France – were unknown territory for me but did include a Biere Whisky – so a few were opened.

Rince Cochon Biere Blonde, 8.5%

The Rince Cochon range sport a cheeky pig – in a variety of colours – and are all high strength offerings.

Biere Blonde displayed a lovely rich malty nose, deeply flavoured palate yet still ‘lagery’ attitude in an eminently quaffable easily over drunk 8.5% ABV.

Nice!

Rince Cochon Biere Whisky, 8.5%

Light golden brown – like whisky with bubbles!

The nose offered soft sweet notes of treacle.

The carbonation on tasting proved too much for me & blew away the rather muted flavours within. Even leaving it stand for a short while didn’t improve matters.

A tad disappointing.

Rince Cochon Biere Rouge, 7.5%

Ribena red! Wasn’t expecting that.

Fruity & very sweet nose flowed into a drinking experience I can only liken to imbibing a liquid pack of fruit pastilles.

Now this style is popular in Belgium – but plainly doesn’t work for me.

Thoughts

Only Biere Blonde pleased me.

On closer – geeky – inspection a few things emerged.

The use of sugar – to boost ABV – & natural flavouring rather than allow taste to emanate from the raw ingredients took these beers in a direction both my palate & ethos didn’t particularly enjoy.

It’s fun to experiment however & I’m glad of the opportunity to taste far & wide.

Even if only to confirm my palate preferences!

Sláinte

All images authors own.

X-Mark, Tequila Beer, 5.9%

Unlike Desperados Beers – X-Mark seem to have actual tequila in the mix.

More X c/othewhiskeynut

Making for a more enjoyable drinking experience.

X ingredients c/othewhiskeynut

Still not barrel aged though!

Sláinte

X-Mark, Gold Rum Beer, 5.9%

Rather than bother with the hassle of barrel ageing – X-Mark simply throw some of the flavouring agent into the mix.

X didn’t hit the spot. c/othewhiskeynut

You certainly get the hint of rum from this concoction – but it’s like drinking an ordinary lager with a dash of rum on top.

Ingredients c/othewhiskeynut

Other than the novelty – I don’t think I’ll be indulging again.

Sláinte