The cognac is the most universal of the wine liquors and one of the most appreciated of the planet. The cognac, from the French cognac, and this from “Cognac”, French province, is elaborated from the white grape wine from the vine harvested near of the city of Cognac, department of Charente, in France.

There are factors that make the cognac an expensive drink, for example, to obtain one liter of brandy there are needed seven liters of wine. To give us an idea of the complex and expensive process of construction of the casks enough to say that from each oak tree with an age of 150 years there are only obtained two casks of 350 liters each. Furthermore, requires of at least two years of aging starting from the end of the period of distillation. And we must not forget that the cognac’s evaporation from the casks in the region of Charente supposes a loss of twenty millions of bottles.

 

Tasting cognac
To taste a good cognac the perfect time is at the end of the lunch, in the after lunch. Hennessy proposes to combine this moment with the chocolate and the Cognac Hennessy XO. The classification of age Hennessy XO (which means in English Extra Old) indicates an aging of at least six years.

The ideal is to drink it in a straight glass with a tulip shape and slightly widen in the base so that the vapors and the bouquet of the drink are not concentrated in the bottom of the glass.
We start by smelling the cognac, and then we softly move the glass so that the cognac spins around so that the air mixes with the liquid, allowing the breath out of the bouquet. Without any more preambles, we drink it little by little, trying that it impregnates the papillas for better enjoying its qualities.

Nine out of ten people love chocolate, but only a few know that this product of pre-Hispanic origin besides liberating the stress, shared characteristic with the Cognac Hennessy, is a fundamental element to reveal the most complex personality of the cognac.

 

Some similarities
Created in 1817 for the exclusive use of the family, Hennessy XO, The Original XO, was the one and only cognac Extra Old in the world for over 100 years, the “elixir of the gods” according to the French writer Victor Hugo.

With complementary aromatic characteristics, cognac and chocolate present notes of spices and wood, and both products reveal a conjugal bond with a unique complexity, an alliance of pleasure in its maximum expression.

With the objective of giving life and romanticism to this magnificent encounter, the best chefs in Mexico designed recipes, for example witch “Fish with crust of ceremonial seeds”, dish created by Martha Ortiz Chapa. It is recommended to serve it with a glass of Cognac Hennessy XO.

Desserts such as the “Chocolate fondant with blue cheese truffle and guava ice cream”, by Enrique Olvera; or the “Chocolate nougat and praline ganache to the cognac essence”, by Vicente Etchegaray Jáuregui.

And we might continue with a delicious variety of desserts delicately designed to make from our experience with the cognac something extraordinaire. 

 

 

Text: Rafael Luna Grajeda ± Photo: Cortesía de Moët Hennessy