Cheers

Cheers-Oct 2016

Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.

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www.cheersonline.com 21 October 2016 • T hey must be doing something right in Cognac: While individual brands may vary in their success country to country, here in the U.S. the classic French brandy continues to gather fans and followers year after year. For bars and restaurants, the story is often about imagery, luxury and nightlife. Much of the growth in superpremium and above Cognacs comes from high-end clubs and upscale lounges, where rare pours are priced into the stratosphere. But Cognac cocktails have come into the mix more recently. As with codials and liqueuers, part of this is the enthusiasm of bartenders to use all spirits in their tool bags. It's also due to suppliers eager to get their VS Cognacs into cocktails. Among Cognacs, Hennessy—which is now responsible for more than two thirds of the Cognac sold in the U.S.—grew about 17% last year. Other leading brands Remy Martin (up about 12%) and Courvoisier (up 5%) also showed solid gains. Together the three account for more than 90% of the category, and most of the 6.9% growth last year in volume overall for Cognac. Meanwhile, non-Cognac imported brandies are mostly fl at or down. With American brandy, it's a similar story to Cognac if with different brands. Three brands—E&J, Paul Masson and Christian Brothers—account for about 90% of volume for all domestic brandies sold here. Most U.S. brandies are considered off-premise brands, though some small and craft producers are trying to make an impact in local markets through cocktail positioning. And there is the undiminished phenomenon of the Brandy Old- Fashioned, an upper Midwest (in particular Wisconsin) favorite, which certainly helps keep alive the idea of brandy's mixability. BRAND EXTENSIONS FOR MIXING Some smaller Cognac houses have focused most of their efforts on mixology. Cognac Ferrand a few years ago developed a 90-proof Pierre Ferrand Original Formula 1840 expressively for mixing. Louis Royer has continued to expand by focusing on Louis Royer Force 53 for its high-proof suitability in strong and stirred cocktails. Domaine Boinaud launched the A Deluze expression especially for cocktails, while Hine developed H by Hine in response to growing demand for a cocktail-friendly Cognac. The larger brands are addressing the mixology component as well. Martell, the 300-year-old Cognac house, in October launched a new expression called Martell Blue Swift. The VSOP Cognac, which is fi nished in Kentucky bourbon barrels, is a good base for cocktails, the company says. And Bacardi promotes several drink recipes that complement the taste of its D'Usse Cognac. Newer American brandies are rarer, or at least don't get the same attention. Heaven Hill recently made an effort to change that by introducing Sacred Bond, a bottled-in-bond extension of Christian Brothers brandy. (To be bottled in bond, by law a spirit must be made by one distiller at one distillery in one season and aged four years in American white oak bourbon barrels). New York's Brandy Library remains one of the country's best-known temples to brandy and Cognac. Brown spirits of all sorts, including many rare iterations, are showcased there. That now includes more than 135 Cognacs, with about 100 Armagnacs, over 45 types of Calvados, 22 American brandies, with about a dozen Spanish brandies and some international varieties. Owner Flavien Desoblin has also expanded his drinks list with a reserve cocktail menu that included one Cognac cocktail included. The seasonal cocktail list in late summer included such brandy-based drinks as Down the Charente (Cognac, lime juice, herbal liqueur, cucumber); Peaches and Cream (Cognac, cream, crème de pêche, port wine reduction); The Musket (Armagnac, muddled fi g, honey, lemon juice); Armagnito (Armagnac, mint, lemon juice, sugar, bitters, ginger ale); and Sun of Normandy (Calvados, fresh-pressed orange juice, grenadine). That's in addition to the nine brandy-based classics Desoblin offers, such as the Sidecar, Between the Sheets, Jack Rose, Brandy Alexander and the long-ignored Stinger. How operators are getting creative with brandy and Cognac The Poderosa, with Cognac, dry Curaçao, masala and lime, is a lighter-style Cognac cocktail introduced this past summer at The Berkshire Room and The Sixth in Chicago. AMERICAN BRANDY: E&J, Paul Masson and Christian Brothers account for about 90% of volume for all domestic brandies sold here.

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