Some people leave cookies for Santa Claus; others leave a little brandy. My father used to soak cookies -- Pecan Sandies, to be exact -- in Cognac, but then he ate them, slowly, with a fork, rather than leaving them for Santa, in whom he did not believe.
But for those who do, and who further believe that Santa is a bon vivant, brandy is an essential flavor of the season. It puts the pizazz into eggnog and warms up cookies, cakes and hard sauces. And nothing signifies Christmas cheer like a glass of brandy twinkling in the firelight.
Since it is, after all, the season, splurging is in order. Don't just make it any old brandy; go for the best. That could mean only one thing: Cognac.
Or is it Armagnac?
Four out of five foodies surveyed actually said they prefer Armagnac. These data were compiled not through a structured tasting -- in fact, it couldn't have been less scientific -- but rather by ambling around the Food section asking those writers who happened to be at their desks, Which is better, Cognac or Armagnac?
None took more than a nanosecond to answer. "Armagnac," "Armagnac," "Armagnac," "Cognac," they barked. "Armagnac." It felt like a liquid duck-duck-goose.
There was one lone voice, a writer who refused to commit to one or the other. "They're different," she ventured brightly. And I have to say, after several tastings, and having spent just about every spare moment ruminating over a glass of one or the other, that I'm with her.
It's commonly said that Armagnac is more soulful, more profound than Cognac. That you have to be over 40 to appreciate Armagnac.
That may be true. But the best Cognacs have unequaled elegance, amazing finesse. And these days, you can easily find Cognacs with plenty of character from smaller producers.
The regions that produce the two brandies are not too far apart geographically. Both are in southwest France -- Cognac north of Bordeaux, and Armagnac inland, southeast of Bordeaux. The eaux de vie, or brandies, of both regions are distilled from wine, and both are aged in oak (white oak in Cognac, black oak in Armagnac), but they're distilled using two different processes.
Is one better than the other? Is velvet better than silk? Is an ocean better than a lake?
Both brandies, at their best, are smooth spirits with caramel flavors and beguiling textures. Armagnacs tend to be rounder, fuller, earthier, fruitier. The best prunes in the world come from Agen, not too far from Armagnac, and the brandy has a similar late-summer fruit ripeness. Cognacs are silkier, more elegant, more refined, with more high notes.
Though usually they're sipped after dinner, I was surprised in tasting them again and again this season at how often both suggested food. One Cognac seemed to beg for a baked ham glazed with orange. An Armagnac cried out for foie gras. I spied a plateful of candied orange peels dipped in dark chocolate: Cognac, definitely.
In Cognac, wine fated to become brandy is distilled twice in copper pot stills. During each distillation, the "head" and "tail" of the distillate are removed, leaving just the "heart." The resulting brandy is known for its elegance and balance.
In Armagnac, the wine is distilled only once, in what's known as a continuous still. It is said that the single distillation retains more of the wine's fruit character than does Cognac's double distillation. In Armagnac's continuous process, the heads and tails are distilled back into the spirit, adding, so they say, complexity. The pride of the region is its vintage Armagnacs, an idea the Cognacais decry as silly.
If you visit Cognac and Armagnac, you can see and feel that the differences in the two brandies are reflected in the ambience of the regions themselves.
Contrasting styles
Cognac is a spiffed-up medieval town with a meticulously restored old city; you can sense money everywhere. Since a huge amount of Cognac evaporates during distillation, what's known as the part des anges, or angels' share, infuses the air and allegedly slows down life for the Cognacais (who, along with the rest of the inhabitants of the Charentes region, are therefore affectionately known as cagouillards, or snails). The place feels so poetic that it's not hard to believe the people are inhaling something magical.
Armagnac, a region that is part of Gascony, is much more rustic, known for its bastides, half-timbered medieval villages organized around central squares. Mostly they feel really old, and if they've been restored, there's nothing precious about the restorations. It's a place that feels ancient and earthy, almost a little gritty; and the people are like that too. Those qualities are played out in the brandy, which has the reputation of being a bit more rough around the edges than Cognac. The region is made up of three crus, Bas-Armagnac, Armagnac-Tenareze and Haut-Armagnac.
