Five cognac experts choose their five favourite expressions

Cognac is not currently experiencing its fi nest hour and the spirit is failing to ignite flames of interest in many bars. But Oli Dodd says innovation is out there, and calls on five bartenders to name the most exciting brands outside of the Big Four.

Cognac is one of the founding fathers of mixed drinks. A cursory look through Jerry Thomas’ first cocktail guide reveals countless calls for brandy from the banks of the Charente. But just because it’s a founding father doesn’t mean its legacy in cocktails has endured – for every Benjamin Franklin there’s a John Jay and every Thomas Jefferson a Peyton Randolph – and the inaugural Class report, published earlier this year, revealed a classic category in a bit of a slump.

In the report, brandy, which included cognac alongside calvados and other international brandies, was the 10th bestselling spirits category in the top UK bars. That’s behind Irish whiskey, scotch and Japanese whisky – and mezcal. Brandy’s most popular classic in the UK’s top bars is at number 26, the Report found – and that’s only if you count brandy as a base spirit of the Sazerac. The truth is, today guests aren’t really ordering Sidecars, Crustas or Brandy Alexanders and expect their French 75s to feature gin. I’m sure Jerry Thomas would be scratching his head.

But why the decline on the cocktail list? Well, initially, it was replaced in many of its pre-Prohibition classics due to a scarcity of cognac caused by phylloxera, but that feels more a historical footnote than a drag on modern day sales. More influential is cognac’s luxury positioning and its gradual de-focusing from the bar channel. Cognac and its gatekeepers, in many ways like scotch, have adopted and encouraged a lofty reputation as a product to be revered almost to the point where mixing is sacrilegious.

But again like scotch, that’s a reputation the region appears to be trying to shake. Some brands are making a concerted effort to invest in bars, bartenders and cocktails. However, much more needs to be done. Of course, appreciation works both ways. Mezcal isn’t where it is today because of marketing – bartenders fell for the richness and diversity of the spirit and soon a category was created. In Cognac, it’s become a bit samey. As much as 90% of global volumes can be attributed to the big four houses of Hennessy, Martell, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier. Here, innovation happens on the fringe, in that remaining 10%, so we asked five bartenders who know the category best for their recommendations for cognacs, not made by the big four, worth putting the category back on the map.

1 Merlet Brothers Blend

Recommended by Carina Soto Velasquez, Equal Parts, London

Merlet does an excellent job offering a selection of products for mixing in classic cocktails and serving neat after dinner. It’s fl oral and delicate, the barrel ageing doesn’t take over the subtlety of the distillate. Cognac is a beautiful category but the luxury market has ruined it, made it difficult to access and difficult to understand why some are so expensive and others not. There's no proper understanding of terroir, only the AOC, but not the soil and the different areas, the grapes used, the ageing. Then bartenders have a tendency to use cognac in older recipes for classics that are not always well balanced. Cognac and orange is match made in heaven, so a Highball with proper soda water and a citrus slice, or an Old Fashioned are the best ways to explain its complexity and makes it understandable for other types of cocktails.