Cognac Review: Rémy Martin XO

Hi, I'm Jason Deadly. I've been away for two weeks. I went on a vacation to St. Lucia. Then when I got back, I got a bit of a flu. But while I was in St. Lucia, I enjoyed quite a bit of cognac. And I've got to quote Winston Churchill. I've got a book where Winston Churchill, he made many pithy statements. And one of them I have to quote for you because it applies to me. So Sir Winston said, in the course of my life, I have often had to eat my own words. And I must confess, I have always found it a wholesome diet. Well, Sir Winston, I have to eat my words because in a previous review, I reviewed a cognac. And I said that the VS grade cognac was not good, not very drinkable, and not recommended. Use it as a base for a cocktail. Well, I was in St. Lucia for a week or 10 days. And I really enjoyed the VS level Corbusier or Hennessy cognac. And I'll have to review those in the future. Tonight's review, though, is a higher end cognac, which I also enjoyed down there at night. And yep, tonight's review is Remy Martin XO. And as you know, XO stands for extra old. I really want to demystify cognac. Think of cognac as simply a different type of spirit than say scotch whiskey. It's distilled white wine. And the French call this white wine eau de vie. And the French, in order for it to be called cognac, because really, it's just a type of brandy. But in order for the label to say cognac, the eau de vie, the white grapes that are sourced for the white wine that is then distilled, must come from the cognac region of France, which is, I think, southwest of Paris, or it's in western France. And it's a couple hundred miles southwest of Paris, if I recall. But anyway, and then within the region of cognac, there are sub regions. And there is Petit Champagne and Grand Champagne. And grapes that are sourced in the wine that is sourced from those regions is more highly prized, because it gives better flavor, supposedly. And that brings us to Remy Martin Extra Old, which 85% of the eau de vie is sourced from Grand Champagne, and 15% from Petit Champagne. Now the eau de vie, or the white wine that is distilled, is then aged in French oak for between 10 years and 37 years. So in order to be called cognac XO, it has to be aged a minimum of 10 years. And this is a very famous, beautiful bottle. Packaging is nice. Very posh. The price was posh. Cost me $179. There's the bottle. Nice stuff. The cork is real cork. Very good stopper. And I can't remember where I was. I was saying something, but it's expensive. Alcohol by volume, 40%. This particular bottle is 750 milliliters, but that's only in Canada and the U.S. The rest of the world only gets 700 milliliter format. So as I, oh yeah, I was saying, so the eau de vie in this that are aged in French oak, it's between 10 and 37 years. And in, I think it was 2015 or 2016, the rules or the law around cognac labeling in France requires that the eau de vie be aged a minimum of 10 years. Before 2015 or 2016, XO cognac only had to be aged eight years. On the nose, the nose is complex. Raisins. Ironically, I nose like red wine, like Burgundy or Bordeaux, even though cognac is made up of very acidic white wine that's virtually undrinkable before it's distilled. Roses, dry leaves. It's very floral. Peonies. It's sophisticated. You know, there's a lot going on there. On the palate, it's smooth initially. Strawberry jelly. Orange spice. Some maple sugar, Canadian maple sugar. Plums. Caramel. Plums. And then you're left on the finish with like cardamom, a little bit of orange picoté. Good oak cinnamon. If there was ever a spirit designed to be enjoyed with a cigar, cognac is it. XO level cognac is a big leap from VSOP. It has, I find with VSOP and VS level, there is a young, youthful, little bit of a spoiled raisin or grape note to it or kind of like brackish water that you don't get at the XO level. By the time you get to the XO level, though, the cognac is smooth, sophisticated. In this case, it's quite dry on the palate and on the finish, which is nice. It starts out smooth. It's very enjoyable. It's refined. Notes of leather. Remy Martin XO compared to say, Hennessy XO. I think the Hennessy may be a bit better, but the Hennessy is more money. In terms of a value for money proposition with Scotch Whiskey, they're two totally different beasts. For $180 that I paid for this, you could have a 21, maybe a 25-year-old single malt that would be very complex, very interesting, but it's a very different spirit. If you're a big Scotch Whiskey fan, XO would reveal to you in the cognac world something that I think would challenge you and you might find interesting. It goes really good with dark chocolate, like 80% cocoa dark chocolate. It's a treat. I enjoy it. I'll have it once in a while, special occasions, Christmas, Chinese friends come over. Cognac is enjoying a bit of a resurgence. The demand in China and in Hong Kong is through the roof. I get a lot of email from readers and viewers in Hong Kong asking me to review this cognac, as well as a number of other XOs. That's where the demand is. Most cognac producers allocate for the rest of the world our portion of the cognac because frankly, they could sell it all in Asia. Ironically, France doesn't have a big demand for cognac. The French have a far bigger demand for or appetite for Scotch Whiskey. Scotch Whiskey outstrips demand of cognac, unbelievably so. I believe like 3% of cognac produced is actually consumed in France. The rest is for XO. I think it's good. I think cognac is a nice change. It is expensive though. It can't be justified in terms of the price of the XO. I decided to spoil myself. Cheers. Take care of yourself.