A. De Fussigny Sélection Cognac

Nose - cherry, grape juice, moderate oak presence, caramel, baked apple, floral notes, cinnamon, nondescript nuttiness, black pepper, grassy vegetal quality, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - artificial cherry and grape, apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, butterscotch, ginger, black pepper, floral notes, barrel spice, almond, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing quickly with fading sour cherry, baking spice, and oak flavors. This is pleasant, but nothing stands out as particularly noteworthy. The fruit notes are alright, but a bit chemically and sour. And it generally feels more watery than I’d like. For the price, I’d much rather have a Pierre Ferrand 1840 or Ambre.

The flavor is rich and has a mix of fruitiness, floralness, nuttiness, a few spices backed by some faint woodiness and a strong sweetness. Unfortunately, the underlying flavor comes through as cherry cough syrup more strongly than in just about any other drink I have tasted as a result. While I can appreciate the complexity and enjoyed this drink at first, there is no hope of getting past the cough syrup taste, so I can't like or recommend this. It smells fruity with fresh cherry and spice along with a bit of milk chocolate. The palate has a lot of sweet cherry like Hennessy VS along with some sweet spices. There's a hint of licorice, but also a nectar sweetness. It has an interestingly herbal bouquet of spices along with some sugary sweet cherry. The sugary sweetness would be better if it were subdued with some more richness from the wood and some bright notes of orange. The nose has a lot of orange marmalade like Grand Marnier. It smells sweet with bitter and tart elements mixed with a little bit of spice. The fruity, floral nose is quite nice. The palate is smooth and viscous with some tingling from spice going on in the background. The flavor is quite sweet with some nice spices balancing it out, including some licorice. There's a bit too much sweet cherry in my opinion, occasionally inducing a brief bit of gagging. The complexity here is quite good though. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I'd be down to drink this because of the more interesting spice elements. It's a tad shy of ABK6 in quality, but it beats out Pierre Duchene fairly handily. The prickliness is sort of quickly numbing so that's a bit of a disappointment. This has a more mild fruit nose than the deep, rich fruits of Symbole National. It also has more spices though, making it reminiscent of Remy Martin 1738. A bit of coffee and a robust tobacco flavor with bursts of sweet cherry that taste faintly of cough syrup but is not wholely unpalatable. The palate lacks the richness of the Symbole National, though the spices do make it more interesting. Ultimately, the Symbole National has more richness with nicely hedonistic flavors and a solid amount of complexity, so I like it better, by a solid margin. Still, this is an interesting drink with a mix of flavors. The balance of fruitiness with spice and some more light chocolatey and barrel flavors is actually quite nice. I'm actually pretty happy sipping this. This is spicier and more lively than Symbole National, but it also has a bit more bitter alcohol and less smooth decadence.