@cascode Ah interesting and I agree. There is a lot of same same especially with Armagnacs. Cognacs I find variance but even then not really much. The cheaper ones taste cheap the expensive ones...a better more rounded version of the cheap ones (at a very simplistic level). I'll be probably shot down by the bourbon fans but I find a lot same same their two or at least a common core of profiles that some do better than others. primarily cos they nearly all use American oak and not much finishing i guess. More variety than Cognac or Armagnac though.

The cognac cognoscenti will probably shoot me down but I’m of the opinion that cognac and armagnac are both drowning under the weight of traditional production methodologies that need revision. When you look at the processes in detail it’s designed to impose huge wood influence over relatively basic profiles that only gain complexity through blending. Some producers like Fougerat, Grosperrin, Voyer and Pasquet are breaking away from this but most of the big names churn out juice that tastes like syrupy extract of over-aged raisin and oak. To compare it with whisky, it’s like all the well-known and lauded cognacs are variations on JW Blue Label, while there are dozens of fine “single cognacs” languishing. I’ll get off my soap box now …

@PBMichiganWolverine Nice. I have a sample of their XO somewhere..probably different grapes but hopefully still good. I have a definite preference for Cognac over Armagnac

@Soba45 so, 2 weeks ago, I had the Bache Gabrielson Serenite cognac, and I absolutely loved the aroma. It was apparently from these grapes called Folle Blanche, which aren’t used much in modern day cognac/Armagnac. I did seek out an Armagnac that’s made solely from those grapes ( was hard to find...bit of all places found it online here in NJ). Hoping that Armagnac has the same jasmine honeysuckle aroma, but even more intensified

@PBMichiganWolverine Yes like you I enjoy a dabble here or there but it's really now whiskey well above others with everything else - cognac, bourbon, gin, mezcal a distant 2nd, 3rd etc

I don’t mind deviating and having Armagnac / cognac/ mezcal / tequila to break things up a bit. But not sure it can replace whiskey. I think, for me, only red wine can ( specifically Oregon Pinot, Argentinian Malbec, and French burgundy or Bordeaux)