During a recent Disney Cruise, we participated in the Cognac Tasting.  Disney Cruse Line describes the class as follows: “Awaken your senses with the velvety drink referred to by the French as l’eau de vie—the water of life.”  The class is a chance to learn about how cognac is made and to try four different types.  The class costs $28 per person and the amount is charged to your room.  It is important to note that if you would like to do one of these tastings, you should sign up when you check in to your cruise or right away when you board the ship on the first day. 

Our tasting was located in the Cove Cafe at 10 pm.  We were pretty tired by the time the tasting came around since we did it after a full day in Antigua.  We were one of the first ones to arrive and we found lots of tastings set up around the Cove Cafe.  Each setup had four different types of Cognac, along with a glass of a water. 

 

The class started with the instructor giving a history of Cognac and the various ways it has been made over the years.  He explained that Cognac must be made in the Cognac region of France and is primarily made for relaxing.  It is a blend of different Brandy types that is made from Ungi Blanc grapes.  It must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and then aged.  Most of the flavor for the Cognac is imparted from the barrel.  There are various abbreviations after the names of the various cognacs.  VS means it has been aged 2-4 years, VSOP is 4-6 and XO has been aged 10-25 years.

I’ll now try to pass along the information we were told in the class with the caveat that I know nothing about Cognac and probably got some of this information written down incorrectly.

Our instructor then took us through the proper way to enjoy Cognac (along with a number of horror stories of people drinking it incorrectly, such as combining it with pina colada mix).  The flavors of the Cognac are released through heat.  The Cognac can be warmed by using a proper glass and holding it in the palm of your hand to let the palm warm the alcohol for 20-25 minutes.  Since we didn’t have that amount of time, he brought us each a glass of warm water to help speed the process.

 

Tasting the Cognac before and after warming it definitely produced notable results.  It was a lot smoother after warming.

 

The first Cognac we tried was Remy Martin VSOP (for Very Special Old Pale).  This was spicy with a little vanilla taste to it.  This is made by aging the Cognac in a new barrel.

 

The second beverage we enjoyed was Courvoisier XO.  This cognac is a blend of different cognacs that were aged between 11-25 years.  This was much smoother than the Remy Martin.

 

The third Cognac was Remy Martin XO.  If I heard the instructor properly, he said this was also a blended beverage.  I believe he said this was 85% Brandy Champagne, but I didn’t hear what the other 15% was.  This Cognac was much sweeter than the others.

 

The last Cognac we tried was Hennessy XO.  The instructor said this was 100 percent Brandy Champagne.  I thought this was sweet as well, until you swallowed it and then you got a lot of bitter notes. 

 

 

While I enjoyed the class, I didn’t enjoy the Cognac.  I find straight alcohol a bit too much for my taste but the learning aspect was fantastic.  We had a great time talking with our fellow cruisers as well, many of whom we continued to see during the rest of the cruise!