De Luze Alfred. 43% Abv. Fruity. Apricots. Vanilla. A Napoleon grade cognac at 13-15 years old. A lesser house would've called this an X.O.

Did you like it?

I had a Fillioux, Réserve Familiale. Excellent cognac. Spices, vanilla, leather and rancio.

Yes Ton. Very much so. I liked that it's good enough for sipping and a great value too. It's rather complex for an inexpensive bottle.

Btw. When the 'big Guy' said that "The finish is rather short and features old oak". Do you think that's the case as well? It puzzles me to think that a two generation cognac would be 'short'; and especially being produced by the Filliouxs. Wouldn't there had to be an anomaly for that to happen?

Who is the big guy?
Anyway, it didn't struck me as being short, but maybe I will taste again tonight and pay more attention to the lenght.

Paul Pacult on 'Wine Enthusiast' August 30th, 2005

https://www.winemag.com/2005/08/30/litt ... gnacs/amp/

I am drinking 'Davidoff Classic' today. The current production is a VSOP by Hine, if I am not mistaken. This old bottle was made by Hennessey, and for sure it's not a VSOP. The complexity and mouth feel of this spirit lead me to believe that it's spent way over a decade, perhaps even two decades, in the barrel.

Not easy to get by, these old Davidoff's.

I tried the Fillioux again last night. Very, very good. But I must admit, it's aftertaste is indeed a bit short.
That brings me to the question: what makes a taste long? The oily-ness?

Great point Ton. Maybe the oily texture that clings on to the tongue makes it long? The craft of cognac-making is truly incredible.

For the Davidoff bottles, I got lucky when I pulled in to a store. They haven't been selling any of those dusty bottles (I like dusty bottles ), so I bought the few that he had left along with the Davidoff Extras at a discount

And where is that? In the States?

Yes. Near San Francisco.