Drinking in Style: Remy Martin XO Cognac

It should be Rémy Martin but I don’t like putting accents in post titles. That aside, Remy Martin’s a high-class drink made from double-distilled fine champagne. After distillation, the brandy is aged at least 2.5 years in oak barrels. The grapes used are also strictly regulated–90 percent must be Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, or Colombard grapes.



There are three kinds of Cognac you can buy, sorted by quality:

VS (Very Special) - stored for at least two years in casks
VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) - stored for at least four years in casks
XO (Extra Old) - stored for at least six years in casks
Interestingly, 60-80% of the American cognac market is African American, because of its recent placement in hip-hop and rap music as Yak or Yack. According to BoingBoing:

“Cognac “is a classy, sophisticated and really smooth thing to drink,” says rap star Jay-Z. His new Manhattan club, 40/40, features a “Remy room” in honor of his own favorite cognac brand, Remy Martin. He says he likes to sip Remy Martin’s Louis XIII — which comes in a gold-encrusted Baccarat crystal bottle for $5,000 — “whenever I wanna have a really relaxing moment, usually with a cigar.”

It’s a bit expensive–at $135 a bottle, $35 a glass–but it’s definitely worth it if you want to relax. Next to try: Hennessy VSOP.