Why is Cognac more expensive than scotch?
I think two reasons are: the uber expensive ones are aged a lot longer on average where 50-70 years is not unheard of in the components and that it largely unheard of in scotch. Also scotch as a crazy luxury is a pretty recent phenomenon. Hell I bought Blackadder ladyburn 1973 for under two hundred bucks 5 years ago. (73 is my birth year) drank it for my 40th. Now…1200 everythere. 8 years ago I bought two bottles of bowmore 25 at total wine for 250 each. Now…500+. Cognac has been a super luxury forever. Im sure there are lots more reasons but those two jump out at me.
I’m thinking at the XO level, which is where I play. Scotch is so much better value for the same $.
Unfortunately I don’t like scotch… 
I love scotch and bourbon so shush about it being cheap before they realize 
I guess scotch doesn’t have the designations like xo and xtra which come with a built in excuse for prices. In the last two years cognac prices seem to have jumped a lot whereas the “basic” single malts have been pretty static. In fact laphroaig 10 has gone down in price for some reason. Paradis retail price went up about 150 bucks. I wish I knew why.
I’d also venture that Cognac is from fruit (grapes) – therefore you are dependent upon Mother Nature and can only make what you can grow v. buying corn/grain/rye/etc and distilling year round.
Cognac is very expensive – but there are deals to be had at the XO level relative to the like quality of bourbon/scotch. Bourbon has gotten ridiculous, I’m hoping that my current bourbon holdings will be enough to ride out the current bubble and I already look forward to the glut soon to come (soon = 7-10 years)
What did you think??
Hmm well, I will write and actual note with the remaiing of the sample when I get home but from memory it is voluptuous. Intense in every way with smokyness, caramel and I recall some very interesting fruit notes. More details later.
I bought a bottle within five minutes of trying it.
The Delamain ‘Pale & Dry’ XO Grande Champagne Cognac is far and away my favourite. It is not a big, powerful style, but has marvellous complexity and depth of flavour; really fine and elegant on the finish. I have never tried Hine but am eager to do so this year and may be able to pick up a bottle while travelling.
I can’t remember ever saying anything about Cognac, but thanks to Tran for starting this thread! I’ll add Paul Giraud as the producer I buy most. When I traveled more, I would buy Hennessy XO in Heathrow duty free, sometimes as low as $60. Those days are long gone 
I have a question on how long is a bottle of cognac good after it’s been open? A year or two or ten?
I wouldn’t come close to having any personal experience with this to report.
I’ve been off the brandy lately. But I’ve got a bottle of Tesseron lot 90 and a Puysegur 1985 Armagnac kicking around in case of emergency.
If sealed well, I think it can go quite a while. Remember, it’s already been distilled (i.e., exposed to plenty of heat) so you’re not worried about heat damage. I’ve found bottles that had been open for at least 5 years, and they were fine. Note that the typical small “stoppers” most Cognac comes with aren’t great seals for long term storage, so you may want to find a better cork to use if you’re going to save for a while. The one thing I noticed in the bottles that were opened a long time is that there seemed to be a little less alcohol, which makes sense - it’s the most volatile compound in there.
1948 Hine, Private Reserve Grand Champagne Cognac, bottled 1985 for Taylor and Lake, London.
Delicious spirit. 40%.
I’m in the region (we spend part of summer here and have for a decade) it’s rather depressing to see the local supermarket devoting three times as much shelf space to Scotch as Cognac.
Hennessy Paradis Imperial- very delicious.
Delamain Vespers is my favorite
Camus Extra last night- surprised I haven’t had this before. Very nice.
Enjoyed a bottle of Delamain Vesper over Christmas.
Kelt Petra is my favorite. I focus on hors d’age Cognac and buy a bottle every year. I started with a bottle of Hennessy Paradis in 1987 and haven’t looked back.