Armagnac: France's "Other" Brandy

Armagnac is the "other French Brandy," the country cousin to the better known Cognac. Liquor.com has a thumbnail sketch of the spirit.

[Armagnac] comes from a small region in southwest France (the entire appellation contains less than 10,000 acres) that is home to 500 independent brands and 300 co-ops producing about six million bottles per year. (Compare that to nearby Cognac, where a few huge brands produce the vast majority of the roughly 150 million bottles sold per year.)

Armagnac can be made from 10 different types of grape, but four are the most common: ugni blanc, Baco blanc, folle blanche and colombard. The first two varieties make up nearly 90 percent of the harvest, but the latter two bring a lot to the final blend. Folle blanche is very acidic, which can turn into floral and fruity notes in the glass; colombard is spicy and vegetal.

The article also has information on the distillation process, the different ages of Armagnacs, and some of the brands.

Topping it off are two recipes for cocktails, including Toby Cecchini's Nippongi-San, a variation of the Japanese Cocktail made with Armagnac. I haven't made one of these yet -- I don't have any Armagnac on hand -- but I'm looking forward to trying it one of these days.

Nippongi-San
By Toby Cecchini

2 oz XO Armagnac
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 oz Lemon juice
1/2 oz Orgeat
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

This recipe is based on Jerry Thomas’ Japanese Cocktail.

 

Addendum: By coincidence last night, I read Jason Wilson's latest column in the Washington Post. The topic? "Armagnac appreciation 101." I guess something's in the air. It's a very interesting and useful column, as Jason's work always is.

Jason points out that there is a surplus of Armagnac in the storage houses of French distilleries, a result of the downturn in the world economy and the paucity of brands with major marketing budgets. As a result:

At $40 to $45 for VSOP or $50 to $60 for XO, you'll be drinking an unbelievable brandy that is a better value than similarly priced cognacs. And with Armagnac, you don't have to deal with the markup associated with cognacs that come in special crystal decanters. Look for brands such as Dartigalongue, Chateau du Busca, Delord, Castarede, Tariquet, Chateau Pellehaut, Larressingle and Chateau de Labaude. If your liquor store doesn't carry Armagnac, demand that it special-order some immediately.

I think I'll do just that.

Comments

[May]

The buzz is in the air, it's about time people start discovering France's oldest spirit. It offers lots of authentic drinking pleasure with none of the hype of its more 'glamorous' counterpart. Glad you came across these two articles, in fact, the one by Jason Wilson is a year old, but happy it got on your radar.

[David J. Montgomery (aka Professor Cocktail)]

Is it really 2012 already?

Thanks for pointing that out. When I read the article, something itched in the back of my mind, but I wasn't with it enough to realize it was the date!

I'm embarrassed to say that I've never even tried Armagnac, although I intend to.

[Amanda Garnham]

Try it and you won't be disppointed. Pure or in cocktails at any time of the day. Need to try several different ones as this brandy is so diverse and made by small family companies in the Armagnac region of South West France.