B&B by Bénédictine

Family favorite for generations!

Bought this by accident… but I’m not mad about it. This is actually quite nice. The Benedictine is balanced nicely by the brandy, with round woody notes and warm fruity, vanilla, and honey notes. It’s kind of a cocktail in a bottle in one sense, or the base of a nice cocktail waiting to happen in another.

My favorite after dinner drink.

Pretty smooth, good siping alcohol but taste like big reds (cinnamon)

Sweet, medicinal, and slightly spicy. Perfect for a nightcap

I might as well compare the standard "B&B" bottling with a few custom Benedictine and brandy pairings that I've tried. As for the store-bought "B&B", it has the same mentholated honey on the nose, with ginger root and newfound cinnamon both contributing to a pleasant bite (see the Benedictine review for more). The main difference to note, apart from the heightened (and much welcome) dryness which is to be expected, is a baseline of tea with honey. I've noticed this tea note in the finishes of certain Cognacs before, particularly Hine, so I might be a little biased and associate it with ones I don't care for with a weak and/or boring flavor profile. I wouldn't say that this blend particularly *improves* Benedictine, it only fixes its sweetness problem in the simplest way possible (and pre-mixed B&B is typically the same price anyway). If this is a drink you like, then I would highly recommend exploring various brandies to see what mixes well; and if they happen to be less than the price of "B&B", then it's an even greater value. The ones referenced below are all VSOP, just because it happens to be Remy Martin's baseline age statement (and I guess I'm a snob). As for the "big four": Remy Martin, while 1738 is probably my favorite standalone Cognac so far, none of its expressions do enough to temper Benedictine's sweetness with their "cinnamon apple pie" character - they are better to be sipped alone. Similar for Hennessy VSOP; while it is a little more complex than Remy, its dark brooding nature is not a good fit either (it's also stupidly expensive for what it is). The cheaper Martell comes close, being a little drier, but the red fruits just aren't quite right... The clear winner of this contest is: Courvoisier VSOP. The brand is already a little hotter and drier than the others, and its floral citrus character pushes it over the top to make it the perfect companion to Benedictine (not to mention a decent sipper itself). A "C&B" made with Courvoisier is at least a quarter point higher in my book. An honorable mention goes to Hennessy Black, Hennessy's happy-go-lucky younger cousin (which happens to be marketed as a mixer), mainly because of its cheaper price and floral nature. It is about equal to store-bought B&B in quality though, except now you can adjust the dryness to your liking.

Just why....