Can anybody recommend a good cognac? By good I mean having a good quality : price ratio. I've found I like the stuff, but don't know where to start really. I have found though that the "big houses" aren't worth anywhere near the prices they command, at least to my tastes, so I'm more curious abut the small houses. But there are still a bunch of them and I don't know where to begin really. Help me out :-)
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I am not a cognac fanatic, but I like this one...
http://www.hinecognac.com/e240uk_blend_cigare.htm
(yes... the name of the cognac is why it was given to me, but I have since purchased a few bottles for my self over the years)
I'd be curious to know what others think of it.
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If you can find KWV 10 year Brandy (from South Africa). Used to be called Cognac until the French went ballistic. Anyway, the sttuff routinely beats the best of the best and is a fraction of the price.
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Noone is gonna say Erk & Jerk? LOL!
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Go for Pierre Ferrand. They are among the best at all price points from $40-$1500. How ever deep your pocket is, you assured to have bought an excellent product if it's from the PF.
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I recommend this one:

Image

Chalfonte Cognac V.S.O.P.

It runs about $25 a bottle. Smooth and a little on the sweet side.
Give it a try.
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From the price/quality aspect, try looking for VS over VSOP.



Hey, I ain't gettin' any better with age.
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Hmmm... Can you say, Food coloring? That red tint is a clear give-away. Look for pale, vanilla color, that is a true barrel color, anything red tells me, Walk away (any large house is an example of that).

Listen to what Moses said, Ferrand is one of the smaller brands that are under the radar and are HEAD and SHOULDERS above most competition. Others are Deret and Delamaine, probably even better products for my money. Another is Leopold Gourmel, my favorite. Incredible fruit with just a touch of oak. YOMMV, of course.

In general, I avoid any Cognac that even has a designation (VS, VSOP, XO), most small houses start at 10 years (XO designation, for example, is just 6 years of aging) and quickly progress into 30-50 years territory. You need to know what to buy, of course, and where to look.

Look up that Hine (link in above post), only one bottle has a designation, others have propriery names as most small houses do.
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Thanks for the replies - I guess Ferrand and Hine are what I'll look for first. That "Blende Cigarre" sounds interesting. If they don't have designations, how do you tell which is which? By the price?
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By the price point. If you look at Hine, they only have one bottle with a VSOP designation (their starter cuvee) and I know they didn't do that before, I guess market pressure made them do that. In mid '90s they did not have a designation on the label. In their case I just ignore it since the product is well made, although I would rather drink their higher end stuff.

Also pay attention to color, redish color indicates artificial coloring, I see any, I walk away. Not that it alters the flavor, it DOES NOT, but that indicates to me the manufacturer is taking the easy way out. Oak barrels actually sap color while aging whats inside (whether wine or spirits) and in no way can/should impart red color to anything.

See if you can track down a bottle of Deret or Gourmel, they give Ferrand a very stiff competition and for my money actually deliver more. Not that I will turn down Ferrand :-) I have a 375ml bottle of Ferrand I paid $100 for in 2001, one of these days I need to open it to go along with a nice cigar or two.
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