Armagnac versus Cognac

The spirits family includes a large number of beverages characterized by a relatively high alcohol content, including eaux-de-vie, frequently referred to as "gnole" or "goutte". European regulations define 44 commercial categories of spirits, but exclude spirits produced outside the EU (tequila, baijiu, etc.).

Eaux-de-vie have an alcohol content of over 37.5% vol. but generally do not exceed 45% vol. when marketed. They can be obtained by two technological methods:

• alcoholic fermentation followed by distillation, from cereals (whisky), fruits and berries (marc, armagnac, cognac, brandy, kirsch, grappa, slivovitz, schnapps...), cider or perry (calvados), roots (gentian), giant grasses (from pressed cane juice, "vesou", or molasses, the residue from the sugar industry), ethyl alcohol flavored with juniper berries (gin), or from different sources of raw materials such as grains, potatoes, beet (vodka), etc. ;

• alcoholic maceration followed by distillation, for eaux-de-vie whose name contains the name of fruits, berries, nuts, plant mixtures, particularly aniseed-flavored ones such as green anise and fennel (wormwood), whether or not partially fermented.

This article compares two of France's flagship spirits, which are grape brandies. Let's be clear from the outset: the gap between these two beverages is huge, between Armagnac on the one hand, and Cognac on the other!