Day 334 Drink: Conjure Cognac

Conjure Cognac uses a blend of VS, VSOP and XO brandies made from the ugni blanc grape from several Cognac regions, including Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne and Borderie. The project combines the talents of Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and third generation master blender Philippe B. Tiffon.

The color is a rich cherry wood with an aroma that melds oak, almonds and a hint of peach skins. The flavor is a layered mix of tobacco, spice and toffee in a smooth package. The flavor lingers nicely.

Day 309 Drink: Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac

Pierre Ferrand is located in the heart of Grande Champagne, considered the Premier Cru de Cognac. The chalky soil and climate make it the perfect location for growing grapes to make Cognac. The distillery makes a range of Cognacs, starting with Ambre up through the Collection Privee, a selection of aged brandies.

Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac is a slightly amber tinted golden color. It has a floral nose with a vanilla base. The base flavor has pear skin, apricots and solid oak around the edge. This is a nice Cognac to have as an digestif or for mixing in a cocktail.

Day 180 Drink: Hennessy Black

Hennessy is the number one selling Cognac in the world. So when they make their first major new product introduction in the U.S. in 50 years, it is worth taking note.

Hennessy Black was introduced in 2009 in select cities and is now available nationwide. The brand is designed to be a mixer and the company is marketing brand through dance and music in high-energy settings across the country.

Hennessy Black is a blend of 35-45 pale and gold colored eaux-de-vie aged in French oak barrels for at least five years. Hennessy Black is an 86 proof spirit that has a nice golden color and floral aroma. The wood base of this drink is nice and firm, but not overpowering. Overall, the drink has a bright texture and a touch of citrus throughout.

Tuesday Tasting: Four Craft Spirits

Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we try four spirits sent to us by Craft Distillers.

The folks at Craft Distillers in Ukiah, Calif., were nice enough to send along four small sample bottles of recent releases. These folks handle products put out by Germain-Robin and St. George Spirits, among other producers. The samples covered quite a bit of ground, but were all unique and impressive.

Maison Surrenne Ancienne Distillerie: This Cognac is 100 percent petite Champagne and aged for 10 years. Nice whiskey color. Booming nose leading with oak and vanilla. Warming flavor, upfront toffee and vanilla, with a very smooth finish.

Los Danzantes Mezcal Reposado: Straw color. Starts with a grassy, slightly medicinal nose. Firm flavor of smoke and clear agave character. Faint spice in the finish.

Aqua Perfecta Pear Liqueur: Pinot gris color, with a fresh floral aroma. Nice ripe just-picked pear flavor. Extremely light and smooth.

Hangar One Fraser River Raspberry Vodka: Pink red hue, with a distinctive fruit nose. Tart raspberry flavor notes with just a slight balancing sweetness.

Christie's Holding First Liquor Auction in New York Since Prohibition

Christie's in New York is the place to be today for collectors of rare spirits. For the first time since Prohibition was repealed in the 1930s the famous auction house's New York location will place bottles of spirits under the gavel.

The auction will include bottles of whisky, Cognac, brandies and other spirits. A bottle of Macallan Scotch distilled in 1926 and a bottle of Cognac Grande Fine Champagne distilled in 1811 are among the highlights of the sale. While bidding on some bottles is expected to reach into the thousands, there are other bottles in the sale expected to go for under $500.

Christie's also will auction off a batch of more than 700 whiskies and rare wines as part of the sale.

New York became just the seventh state to allow liquor auctions earlier this year.

Cognac Harvest 25 Percent Below Predictions

Cognac is the most famous brandy in the world and its made from a grape most people have not heard of, the ugni blanc. Disease in the vineyards, including mildew, are cutting this year's harvest of the ugni blanc significantly.

Cognac can come from only one small region of France. With demand for Cognac growing, a bad year hurts brands like Martell and Hennessy because they are unable to count on a reliable supply of grapes.

The Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac says production could be off by 25-30 percent. That will likely cause prices to climb in future years.

Macedonia Villagers Dig Up World War I Cognac

During World War I Gradesnica, Macedonia, was part of the front lines with Germans facing French troops. More than 90 years later, villagers have uncovered vintage Cognac and wine that historians believe was buried by French troops who were either killed or forgot to dig up the alcohol rations.

The first Cognac was uncovered in the old trenches about 15 years ago. Since then people exploring the old trenches and farmers plowing fields have discovered additional bottles often two cases at a time.

Gradesnica is located close to the border with Greece. French and other foreign fighters had joined with the Serbs to try to stop advancing German and Bulgarian troops.

Bottles found in the trenches could be quite valuable, but locals say they have consumed everything they have found.

Tuesday Tasting: Delamain Grande Champagne Cognac

Tuesday Tasting is a regular feature of Lyke2Drink that explores some of the best beers, wines and spirits on the market. This week we head to France for a taste of Cognac.

Cognac is a French brandy. Brandy takes its name from the Dutch word “bradewijn,” which means “burnt wine.” The French must have felt it easier to market Cognac than burnt wine. Many things can be used as a distillate to make brandy. Made in a pot still from colombard, ugni blanc and folle blanche grapes, Cognac can only come from the Cognac region along the Atlantic coast of France. It takes 10 gallons of wine to make a single gallon of brandy.

Kobrand was nice enough to recently send me a range of five Cognacs from a single Grande Champagne producer, Delamain.

Delamain Grande Champagne XO Cognac: Golden blond Cognac with nice fresh oak and vanilla notes. Slightly sweet and flowery.

Delamain Vesper: Copper colored Cognac with a slight caramel nose that wraps earthy, oak and crème brulee flavors in a tight package.

Delamain Grande Champagne Extra: Golden colored Cognac that has a subtle vanilla aroma and notes of smoke, orange peel and almonds in a slightly bitter flavor profile.

Delamain Tres Venerable: Tarnished brass color and a mellow oak aroma. Wonderfully full flavor with alternating sweet and spicy notes. This is a blend of older Cognacs. The finish is long and invites another taste.

Delamain Reserve de la Famille: This single barrel Cognac has a nice copper color and subtle floral nose. The flavor profile is a gentle combination of oak and vanilla.

EU Parliament Set to Order a "White Spirit and Tonic"

On one side of the aisle you have vodka makers from various countries arguing over exactly what is vodka. Mixed among them are people who believe Scotch does not necessarily have to come from Scotland. At the end of the day, you just might have a bunch of confused consumers. Welcome to the European Union Parliament.

With a vote this week, the EU Parliament could cause more than a third of vodka -- including some very popular brands in the United States -- to be recategorized as "white spirit" or "pure alcohol." Taking up a motion by a group of Nordic and Baltic countries, including Poland and Finland, a new proposed EU law says that vodka must be made from potatoes or grains.

A number of major brands, including Ciroc from France, use ingredients such as grapes, beets or citrus fruit. In the United Kingdom, significant amounts of vodka are distilled from molasses. If they lost the designation as vodka, these brands are also likely to drop in sales. Distillers in traditional vodka states think this would be just fine.

Currently, EU regulations define the distilling process for vodka, but not what raw ingredients must be fermented.

Scotch makers have been pulled into the fight through political maneuvering. They want protection against brands around the world using terms that suggest they are Scotch. The whiskey makers argue that like Cognac or Champagne, Scotch is as much about a place as it is ingredients or process. By tossing protection for Scotch distillers into the vodka proposal, the EU Parliament has clouded the potential outcome of the vote.

A $38,165 Stop at the Duty Free

If you travel at all internationally, you will find yourself in a duty free shop or two. Chances are you might even grab a bottle of spirits or wine that is remarkably affordable because the taxes are stripped away. However, few of us will ever have the desire or the means to match the prowess of a Chinese tourist who passed through the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Tuesday.

The unidentified man dropped $38,165 on brandy and wine during a 15-minute whirlwind shopping spree and then boarded a plane for Beijing. Among his take was an 1806 bottle of Cognac, a 1900 bottle of Armagnac and a 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild.

The Paris duty free shop has recently added personal shoppers to assist wealthy travelers wishing to avoid the tax man.

Beverage Bulletin: Notes from the Drinks World

A Dram of English?: Andrew Currie, founder of the Isle of Arran distillery in Scotland, plans to launch a distillery in Kendal, along the River Kent in England. Using Auld Enemy as one of the brands from the Lakeland Distillers, Currie plans to produce 25,000 liters of English single malt annually. Other brands planned are Barley Bridge English Single Malt and Bootlegger Blend, English whisky blended with Scotch.

+++ +++ +++ +++

Bourbon Brands Acquired: Spirits marketer Castle Brands now owns the Jefferson's Reserve, Jefferson's and Sam Houston Bourbon brands. Castle purchased Kentucky-based McLain & Kyne and as part of the deal McLain & Kyne's former president, Trey Zoeller, joins Castle as vice president of its U.S. subsidiary.

+++ +++ +++ +++

Granite City Hits Sweet 16: Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. has opened its 16th location. The new location is in Omaha, Neb., at the Westroads Mall. Granite City opened its first location in St. Cloud, Minn., in 1999. The Company operates a centralized beer production facility to support to its restaurants and create operational efficiencies.

+++ +++ +++ +++

Six Down, Five to Go: Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, just opened their sixth brewpub in Phoenixville, Pa., and they have announced plans to open five more locations in the next three years. Fueled by a $7 million loan from Citibank, Iron Hill is looking at sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. In 2005, the five Iron Hill locations in Newark and Wilmington, Del., and Media, West Chester and North Wales, Pa., had sales of nearly $20 million. Iron Hill was founded in 1996.

+++ +++ +++ +++

Honest Officer, It's My Cologne: Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc., has licensed the Courvoisier Cognac brand to Kraft International Marketing for production of a high-end fragrance. Courvoisier L'edition Imperiale had its debut at the Tax Free World Association Exhibition in France. The fragrance, targeted towards 25-35 year old males, will be available in early 2007. No Cognac is used in the fragrance, which will sell for around $100 per 75 ml bottle.

+++ +++ +++ +++

At Least He'll be a Sober Despot: The United Nations is facing down the nuclear threat of North Korea by moving to cut off Kim Jong Il's supply of Cognac and French wines. The per capita income in North Korea is $914, but the dictator and his power circle have long been fans of Mercedes-Benz, Hennessy Cognac and top flight French wines and perfume. The UN Security Council has placed a ban on the sale of luxury goods to North Korea as the result of the country's recent nuclear bomb test. While many of his people starve, the U.N. reports Kim owns 200 Mercedes cars and has a personal net worth of $4 billion.