Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac

Söt doft med ett stort inslag av fatkaraktär. Får också en del citrus och vanilj. Bra Cognac. Känner stor skillnad om man väntar ut den lite efter servering då den upplevs betydligt spritigare både till doft och smak precis vid servering. Eftersmaken sitter kvar och känns mer som definitionen av brandy, dvs lagrade druvor.

Very neat and soft fragrance. The taste is a little meaty, soft, delicate, vanilla, nut, maybe some unobtrusive herbs, maybe some fruits. Very well balanced and easy to drink.

Ah yes, a classic staple. I only got a half bottle of this, because I believe my standards will be higher than what this will provide, but I'm curious to see how that stands up. The color itself is dark, showcasing good and even long barrel aging, but the edges are very light due to the heavy watering down. Typical raisin and dried fruits found on the nose, with a slight earthy undertone. The oak is present, but there aren't really any prominent scent notes to pick it out with. The initial flavor is like a blast of fruit punch, but only for a split second, because the oak comes in to present more character. This is odd that the fruit flavor doesn't taste aged, and the barrel flavor is actually absorbed separately. Vanilla is a huge note found in the middle, also likely due to the oak used. The raisin note is present the whole way through, although not overpowering at any point. The finish is slightly hot, with the fruit flavors from before getting sweeter and sweeter, but like you sprinkled sugar on them instead of turned them into a jam. There might be something to the science of the blended ages here. I can tell that there is really nice oak and other barrel notes here (expected for using ~12 year batches), but really fresh fruit that hasn't succumbed to being jammy (this is where the ~4 year batches come in). It's no wonder that this is a flagship cognac; as cliché as it sounds, it can equally stand up to being used in more high-end cocktails, but also entice even a veteran taster when drank neat. It's been on my backlog for a while, so I don't remember the full or half bottle cost, but given that this is not unlike the "Jim Beam" of cognac, I'm pretty confident saying that the price definitely is worth picking up to keep around for bar uses of brandy.

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Fruity and Harsh: I have had a couple younger cognacs that taste like this one. it tastes exactly as a cognac should. I can taste the dark fruit upfront, but I get burning after that. The burning doesn't quite come entirely from barrel spice, its from the ethanol too. If you can afford it and still want Remy, try the 1738. otherwise I get a similar experience to the Claude Chatelier VSOP at half the price

Side by side with the XO, it has all of the same notes and qualities it is just more muted. Kinda tastes watered down but I don’t think I would have known if it wasn’t side by side.