An insight into our Cognac tasting at the 2026 Bartenders' Brand Awards.
While our cognac tasting took in many of the region’s major players, it was a house outside of the traditional “big four” that took the top two spots.
Ferrand Cognac’s Selection des Anges improved on a second-place finish in 2025 to claim the accolade of Champion cognac.
The 44/50 in the blind tasting was a category best with judges finding a “gorgeous” cognac with “nice depth”. And the bottling also took plaudits for its design – judges “loved the branding” which they found “unique for the category”.
Another offering from Ferrand Cognac, 10 Générations took the runner-up spot. Like Selection des Anges, 10 Générations was awarded gold medals across the board, with “apple”, “caramel” and “lots of vanilla” in a cognac that “honestly slaps”.
Courvoisier VSOP completed the podium and secured another clean sweep of gold medals. Judges found it “really well rounded” with a “good lasting finish”.
Just two points separated fourth and second, with Hennessy XO the second highest performing cognac in the blind tasting. It was kept out of the higher places by its value for money that was deemed only good enough for a silver medal. Another Hennessy, the VSOP, rounded out the top five.