Cognac

These are our Top 10 brandies for Christmas 2024Top 7 brandies for Christmas 2025

These are our picks for the top 7 brandies for Christmas 2025! A glass of brandy for Christmas is traditional. An elegant way to celebrate the big day, a good…

Adam O'ConnellAdam O'Connell
Why Idris Elba wanted to make a Cognac: The Porte Noire storyWhy Idris Elba Wanted To Make Cognac: The Porte Noire story

“Cognac is something I’ve always appreciated for its complexity and richness,” says Idris Elba, founder of Porte Noire.  Idris Elba and The Porte Noire story His brand, meaning “Black Door”,…

Adam O'ConnellAdam O'Connell
Vieux Carre8 great brandy and Cognac cocktails

How many brandy or Cognac-based cocktails can you name? Better still, how many do you know how to make? Perhaps a few more once we’re done here… Brandy is the…

Emma SymonsEmma Symons
The art of the blend with Courvoisier’s Thibaut Hontanx
The art of the blend with Courvoisier’s Thibaut Hontanx

We’re celebrating brandy this week at Master of Malt so we were delighted to get some time with one of the biggest names in the industry, Thibaut Hontanx chief blender…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Rémy Martin 1738 Sidecar10 Cognacs for single malt lovers

Cognac. Cognac! Ah, Cognac, the very word if a byword for luxury and sophistication. Cognac, drunk by hip hop stars and oligarchs and comes in lavishly packaged crystal decanters. All…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Seven Cognacs for single malt whisky loversNew Arrival of the Week: Hine Single Estate Bonneuil 2012

Our New Arrival this week is a rare Cognac that not only comes from a single vintage but a single vineyard too. It’s Hine Single Estate Bonneuil 2012! Traditionally, most…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Armagnac vineyardsWhat’s the difference between Armagnac and Cognac?

Ever wondered what’s the difference between Armagnac and Cognac? Well here’s a little explainer looking at the history, geography and production methods of France’s greatest brandies.  When reaching for a…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Rare casks of Cognac at DelamainSix Cognacs for whisky lovers

Cognac has the complexity, personality, history, innovation, and value to make it a great alternative to whisky. And these bottles prove it. One thing whisky lovers understand is the joy…

Adam O'ConnellAdam O'Connell
Rémy Martin 1738 SidecarCocktail of the Week: The Sidecar

This month we’re celebrating Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados and brandy in all it’s forms. So for our Cocktail of the Week, we’re shaking up a simple combination of Remy Martin Cognac,…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Hine CellarsCognac: the British and Irish connection

It’s Cognac month here at Master of Malt and to kick things off, we’re going to take a look at how British and Irish merchants helped turn this local speciality…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
A bottle of Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2014What we loved this week: Buffalo Trace, Port Charlotte, and rare Cognac!

Terroir-tastic Port Charlotte, the rarest of Cognac, a snippet of Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, whisky cake… It’s a bumper edition of What we loved this week! Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!…

Master of MaltMaster of Malt
cognac-park-borderies-mizunara-cognacNew Arrival of the Week: Cognac Park Borderies Mizunara

This is our final New Arrival of the Week of 2022 and we’ve got something a little unusual to say au revoir. Or perhaps that should be sayonara because what…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Hine Rare VSOP10 superb Cognacs to try in 2023

Lovers of malt whisky or aged rum should really be exploring the Cognac region, especially with a certain winter holiday on the horizon. It’s coming! If old sherried single malts…

Master of MaltMaster of Malt
National Cocktail Day 2024 SazeracCocktail of the Week: the Sazerac

Today, we’re making a cocktail with its heart in old Louisiana. Like an Old Fashioned but with a French twist, it’s the drink of New Orleans. It is, of course,…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Delamain Pale and Dry XONew Arrival of the Week: Delamain Pale and Dry XO

One of the world’s classic bottlings, Delamain Pale and Dry XO, has been reformulated. But there’s no need to panic, the Cognac house hasn’t lowered the ABV, quite the opposite…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys
Hermitage 1975Master of Malt Week exclusive: Hermitage Grand Champagne Cognac 1975

The Master of Malt Week train rolls on with another exclusive. Today, it’s a Grand Champagne Cognac 1975 bottled by Hermitage. We talk to the man behind, Mr Cognac himself,…

Henry JeffreysHenry Jeffreys