Like Cognac, Armagnac is grape brandy made in a particular region in France, though this region is a bit further to the south. Armagnac uses the same grapes as Cognac, plus the addition of baco blanc. More notably, Armagnac is not pot distilled but rather is distilled in column stills, and it is only distilled once instead of twice. Because of these factors, Armagnac is typically a bit less fruity and more floral than Cognac. Armagnac uses similar VS/VSOP/XO designations for age as Cognac.
Top Armagnac Posts:
What’s the Difference Between Cognac and Armagnac?
Chateau du Tariquet Armagnacs – Blanche, VS Classique, VSOP, XO, and 1993 Vintage
Marquis de Montesquiou Armagnac VSOP and XO
You may know Raj Bhakta best as the founder of WhistlePig. But you might have missed the news that Bhakta left WhistlePig last year and struck out in search of new ventures — and sure ...
“Claret is liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy.” – Samuel Johnson So you understand what different kinds of whiskey are called and why, and ...
It’s no secret that bourbon has been the It Spirit for a good few years now. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about it is how pretty much no one saw it coming. One needs to ...
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 ...
No longer using the “Domaine du Tariquet” name (see earlier coverage here under the old identifier), Tariquet now produces both wines and spirits under the “Chateau du Tariquet” moniker. Recently we received a monster shipment of ...
Armagnac, in the Gascony region of France near Bordeaux, has long played second fiddle to the better-known and more prestigious Cognac. Subtle production differences exist between the two. Cognac uses up to three grape varieties. Armangac ...
You’re full of meat and pie and perhaps meat pie. Now it’s time to think of your loved ones. Were they naughty? Nice? Do they deserve a fancy tipple when the giving season arrives? For ...
Our friends at Domaine Select Wine Estates (which handles a lot more than wine) are on the road, “popping up” in a half-dozen cities to let their producers show off their wares. I recently dropped ...
Montesquiou… man, that is a lot of vowels. It is also the producer of a lot of Armagnacs. Formerly part of the Pernod family, it’s now being imported by ImpEx, repackaged, and expanding into broader ...
Good armagnac can be elusive, but Single de Samalens makes a compelling case for its revival. This armagnac is “single distillery, single grape” — Samalens is 100% ugni blanc, aged 8 years — and is ...