Cognacs

"You don't get the alcohol smell on the nose like you do with younger cognacs." ❋ Dan Dorfman (2010)

On quiet streets locals greet each other with four kisses, and behind closed white wooden shutters, in what look like unlived-in homes, some of the finest cognacs on the planet slumber, purposefully. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

"I tasted cognacs at an ambient temperature, cold and frosted to see which flavors emerged and which dishes would go best with each," he says. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

The drink in question is a two-ounce shot of Hardy Perfection, a blend of vintage cognacs dating back to the 1860s. ❋ Dan Dorfman (2010)

We're selling cognacs now that my father selected 30 years ago. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

Tel: +33 (0) 545 826032 www.bistro-de-claude.com What to do Baron Otard ( www.baronotard.com ) is one of several cognac houses offering guided tours and tastings as individual as their cognacs. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

And premium cognacs might be decades older than the drinker who delights in them. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

The house specializes in very old premium cognacs blended solely from grapes grown and distilled in the immediately surrounding vineyards of Grande Champagne — one of the six growing areas for cognac and the appellation credited with producing the subtlest of slow-aging cognacs. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

Its gourmet restaurant and sumptuous cognath è que, with 250 or so cognacs, have won a following from film and media folk. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

Holding up a sample from 2009, Mr. Braastad says, This accords well with the style of our cognacs. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

Tel: +33 0 545 368260 www.yeuse.fr Where to eat Cognac merchants, grower-distillers and oenologists are among those who sit down to expertly prepared local produce in the art deco inspired interior of the Restaurant du Ch â teau The seven-course menu for cognac lovers, including cognacs, is € 82. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

But it's the cellars that have won the company its name for making elegant cognacs with a long finish and floral flavor. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

But there are scores of smaller houses and, close by the statue of Francis I, La Cognath è que cognatheque.com sells more than 400 cognacs. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)

Unless labeled single cask, cognacs are blended from eaux-de-vie of differing ages but matured at least two years to create a complex mix of tastes and aromas with lasting pleasure for nose and palate. ❋ Lennox Morrison (2011)