Evident caramel and sugar "ageing" lessens the appeal of this VSOP-style Cognac. I'm predisposed to like Rémy Martin—the frosted bottle VSOP was the first good Cognac I ever tasted, and there was a period of about 5 years in the late 2000s, before the 100-200% price hike, when the XO "Excellence" bottling was available at duty free shops for about 85 GBP/70cl, and became my favourite luxury spirit. Nostalgia prodded me to buy this, but it's a disappointing, commercial brew, heavy and spirity, far too dark for its tender age, with the aforementioned caramel not doing it any favours. At just above this price point, it might be worth trying Landy XO (if you want a fancy bottle and a brand name), or upgrading to my current reference, Audry XO (if you can source it) for a cleaner, less obviously confected experience. 85–86P
At Tasting Event (short TNs)...IF you love Scotch, you will understand. This is very well put together, I prefer Scotch over Cognac any day of the week, so this resonated well with me. A sipper for anytime of day/night, similar to a tad sweetened Scotch (ie. Balvenie Caribbean Cask), yet smooth as heck but you just want to savor it. Nice, picking one up to have an affordable Cognac very liked on stash.
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12/21/2023 - honest bob wrote: 85 Points
Evident caramel and sugar "ageing" lessens the appeal of this VSOP-style Cognac. I'm predisposed to like Rémy Martin—the frosted bottle VSOP was the first good Cognac I ever tasted, and there was a period of about 5 years in the late 2000s, before the 100-200% price hike, when the XO "Excellence" bottling was available at duty free shops for about 85 GBP/70cl, and became my favourite luxury spirit. Nostalgia prodded me to buy this, but it's a disappointing, commercial brew, heavy and spirity, far too dark for its tender age, with the aforementioned caramel not doing it any favours. At just above this price point, it might be worth trying Landy XO (if you want a fancy bottle and a brand name), or upgrading to my current reference, Audry XO (if you can source it) for a cleaner, less obviously confected experience. 85–86P
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3/24/2023 - zigzag Likes this wine:
Perfectly smooth, a very dry syrup tinge. Straightforward, not much in the way of complexity. A relaxed sipper.
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10/29/2018 - Vinomazing Likes this wine: 92 Points
At Tasting Event (short TNs)...IF you love Scotch, you will understand. This is very well put together, I prefer Scotch over Cognac any day of the week, so this resonated well with me. A sipper for anytime of day/night, similar to a tad sweetened Scotch (ie. Balvenie Caribbean Cask), yet smooth as heck but you just want to savor it. Nice, picking one up to have an affordable Cognac very liked on stash.
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6/27/2018 - henrygjeffreys wrote:
Big step up from the VSOp
Big rancio nose - dried fruit and nutty
Tobacco, sweet and rich
Luxurious
This really punches above it's lowly price £40
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3/2/2018 - The Great Hatsbys Likes this wine: 90 Points
Similar-ish to Martell, Cordon Bleu, Grand Classic Cognac, but more viscous.
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