Cognacs have long held their place in traditional liquor cabinets, reserved for post-dinner sips or warming up on chilly evenings. While they haven’t quite reached the approachability and popularity of scotches or whiskies, cognacs are slowly making a comeback as a refined digestif.
To make cognac, white wine is distilled to create eau de vie – a type of fruit brandy – then aged for several years in oak barrels. Different eau de vies are blended together to create a specific flavour and the longer the eau de vies are aged, more complex and richer flavours will develop. The length of aging also earns the cognac a designation – the string of characters (VS, VSOP, XO) you might recognize on cognac bottles.
Martell is one of the oldest cognac makers in the world. The brand was previously available in Canada but supply challenges caused Martell to pull its stock from the country about five years ago. This September, Martell relaunched a limited line of cognacs in the country, including its Medallion VSOP, which stands for ‘Very Superior Old Pale’. It’s made with eau de vie aged for at least four years, imparting notes of caramelized dried fruits and prunes to the cognac.
Sip it straight or on ice from a tulip-shaped glass and you might taste a bit of licorice and lime, raisin and fresh oak. Or try shaking it with lemon juice and triple sec, garnished with a twist of orange for a sidecar that brings out the cognac’s warm, sweet and citrusy flavours.
$94.95; LCBO
