What’s the Difference Between Cognac and Armagnac?
What’s the Difference Between Cognac and Armagnac?
Even if you’ve got a pretty good handle on the world of spirits, Cognac can come across as opaque. It can be hard to tell where Cognac fits into the broader spectrum of spirits, and that’s even before you’re introduced to Armagnac, Cognac’s lesser-known sister spirit. So what are you actually getting when you buy a bottle of Cognac or Armagnac, and what’s the difference between the two? Read on.
To start with, both Cognac and Armagnac are both varieties of French brandy. To be reductive, brandy is distilled wine (just like whiskey is distilled beer). Though you can also make brandy out of other fruits, “properly” it’s made from grapes, and this is the case for both Cognac and Armagnac.
Cognac is brandy made in the Cognac region of Southwestern France. Cognac is mostly made from three major varietals of grapes that you rarely see in wine: Ugni blanc, Folle blanche, and Colombard, as well as smaller percentages of a few other grapes like Sémillon. These grapes, if fermented, would make a wine that is extremely acidic and often unpalatable, but when distilled makes for a spirit that is unparalleled in aging and blending potential. Distillation takes place in copper pot stills, which are regulated in size and shape by the French government.
Once distilled, Cognac is stored in French oak barrels to age. All Cognacs are blends of various barrels, and each individual Cognac in a blend is referred to as eau-de-vie or ‘water of life.’ The age statement on a bottle of Cognac is an indication of how old the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend is, and for really exclusive bottles, the other Cognacs in a blend can be over a hundred years old. Cognac doesn’t usually carry direct age statements like a bottle of whiskey, however; Cognac aged up to two years is listed as VS or ‘very special’, aged up to four years it’s called VSOP or ‘very superior old pale’, and aged up to eight years it can be called either XO for ‘extra old’ or Napoléon. In 2018, the XO minimum age rule goes up to 10 years, though typically XO cognacs are considerably older than this.
Armagnac is brandy made in the Armagnac region in Gascony, further south than Cognac. It predates Cognac by some 150 years, actually, and it’s produced in three subregions: Haut Armagnac, Bas Armagnac, and Armagnac Tenarèze. Armagnac uses Ugni blanc, Folle blanche, and Colombard grapes like Cognac does, and adds the Baco blanc, a grape that outside of Armagnac isn’t used for much of anything. Baco is very important to Armagnac, making up 35% of production here; 10 grapes in total are authorized in the area, including Plant de Graisse, Meslier St François, Clairette de Gascogne, Jurançon blanc, Mauzac blanc, and Mauzac rosé.
Instead of Cognac’s copper pot stills, Armagnac is distilled in column stills (at least 95% by law) similar to American bourbons, Armagnac is only distilled once instead of twice in the case of Cognac. (There are a small number of exceptions to this, with three Armagnac producers double pot distilling.) Armagnac is also distilled to a lower degree of alcohol than Cognac. The legal limits for Armagnac are 52% to 72.4% abv, though the majority of producers are distilling between 52% and 60%.
The single distillation and the column still combine to make Armagnac generally a more aromatic and brooding spirit than Cognac, perhaps a better entry into French brandies for someone used to bourbons. Armagnac uses the VS/VSOP/XO designations for age as Cognac, but the ages don’t match up perfectly; the youngest eau-de-vie in a XO Armagnac only has to be aged six years instead of eight. (This changed to 10 years in 2018.) Also important for the imbiber more conscious about how much they’re spending on alcohol, as Armagnac isn’t as well-known outside of Europe, old Armagnac tends to be cheaper than similarly-aged Cognac.
So to summarize, Cognac is distilled twice in copper pot stills, and Armagnac is distilled once in column stills, and the grapes used can be a bit different. Ready to go use your new knowledge and pick up a few bottles? Try some of our favorite Cognacs, like Gilles Brisson VSOP or Martell Blue Swift, or Armagnacs like Chateau du Tarquiet or Marquis de Montesquiou!
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