Wednesday 20th June, Kymi 23km, weather hot and muggy, thunderstorm no.2
As mentioned, no idea why we picked Cognac, other than brandy having become my favourite nightcap. I blame Jeff and Dad, in that order, who got me into Armagnac a few exhibitions ago, and B who likes to keep up the tradition….
The day did not start well. By the time I had finished working it was too late to go for a cognac producers tour as they all close for lunch. So we went to a supermarket and as we were still in the first aisle they started turning out the lights – we had managed to pick one of the few which also shuts for lunch! So we rushed out with the essentials (avocado, iles flottante, 5 litres of red wine – seems fine to me).
Back to Horatio to unload, then back into town to sightsee until 2pm when it all opens up again. Brians latest footie mate gave us a 2 for 1 voucher for Hennessy and also said it was the best tour – he having tried them all it seems! So we got 2 tours for 9 euros – you can pay up to 45 euros each for the same tour, but with posh cognac and choccies at the end. I don’t like it that much – or rather, I am simply not a connoisseur (thank goodness for spellcheck on that one – and its a french word!).
First you get on a boat to cross the river and they take you round a museum of production. Then you go into the warehouse where they age the spirit called Eau de Vie – Water of Life. Cognac –and all brandies – are a mixture of many different ages and domaines of Eau de Vies. For an XO the cellarmaster will blend up to 100 different ones with ages from 7 to 45 years old. We saw barrels which were dated 1890! Those are still ageing. The atmosphere in the store is heady to say the least as 2-3% volume of each barrel evaporates per year – “the Angel’s share”. Great place to be an angel – or a black fungus which grows on the walls, feeding from the fumes… truly the Water of Life then.
These towers mark the entrance to the old city, Hennessy is just to the right...