THE CELLAR · BRANDY
Rémy Martin VSOP
฿8,000 bottle · ฿570 glass
This is Cognac in its most familiar form: a VSOP from Rémy Martin, blended from eaux-de-vie grown in the Cognac region of western France and aged a minimum of four years in oak. The house is one of the grandes marques of the appellation, and this bottling sits at the centre of its range.
Cognac, France — the Charente and Charente-Maritime départements.
VSOP: the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend is at least four years old.
40% ABV, 750ml.
Ugni Blanc is the dominant grape of the region.
How it is made
Cognac begins as a thin, acidic white wine, distilled twice in copper Charentais pot stills. The resulting eau-de-vie goes into French oak — much of it Limousin or Tronçais — where it spends years slowly oxidising, concentrating and picking up colour and tannin from the wood. VSOP is a blend, not a single cask: the cellar master marries eaux-de-vie of different ages and origins to hold a consistent house style year after year.
How it tastes
Ripe apricot and peach come first, with vanilla and a thread of dried fruit running underneath. There is licorice and a faint spice at the edges. The palate is smooth and velvety rather than sharp, and the finish lingers.
Good to know
The letters on a Cognac label are regulated, not decorative. VS means "very special" and sets a floor of two years in oak; VSOP, "very superior old pale", raises that floor to four. Both figures describe the youngest component in the blend — older eaux-de-vie are almost always in there too, softening and deepening the whole.
Contains alcohol.
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