What is the very best cognac,and why?
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
I certainly do enjoy Cognac occasionally, and I have been lucky enough to find several I thought were exceptional. I would find it very difficult to say that one Cognac was the "very best," as I would with wines. There are many that stand out in both categories. With respect to Cognac, there are relatively few options (compared to wine)that you might find in any one store. I would say that price is not a reliable indicator; for around $50 a bottle, you can find standard selections from large Cognac houses and far superior examples from relatively unknown labels. All the well-known brands offer a wide range of Cognacs of differing ages, and each of the major houses has an ultra high-end bottling selling for thousands of dollars a bottle (such as Remy Martin Louis XIII). If your budget is less generous, here is a short list of producers (I'm sure others should be added) who, in my experience, offer high-quality Cognac at all levels: Delamain, Tesseron, Hine, Gabriel & Andreu, Prunier, Pierre Ferrand, and Leopold Gourmel.
