From France with Love: Discovering Armagnac

This coming Tuesday, we are thrilled to welcome Steffen Spinks of Heavenly Spirits Imports, our leading supplier of fine Armagnacs, to the France 44 Event Space for our very first Armagnac class! In anticipation of the fun evening, we will be offering 10% off all Armagnacs this weekend through Tuesday night. 

Nestled into rolling hills and valleys equidistant from the Pyrénées to the south, and Bordeaux to the north, lies the world’s oldest brandy producing region, Armagnac AOC. If you’re new to brandy, it’s a large, encompassing category of spirits distilled from fruit-based wine. In Armagnac, hundreds of small to medium-sized producers, many of them multigenerational families, make this oak-aged eau-de-vie, or “water of life”,  from up to ten local white grape varieties. The French eaux-des-vie distilled here tally a mere one to two percent of production when compared to its younger, more famous, and luxury-branded sibling – Cognac. 

France’s two principal brandy producing regions are indeed like siblings, sharing inherently inseparable qualities while each treading their own paths. Cognac, a globally-recognized symbol of prosperity, whose finest specimen display the smooth and masterful nuance of barrel-aging. 

Armagnac, the earthier sibling, sparked with an authenticity and expressiveness that is softened with age.

The key differences that separate Armagnac from its sibling are derived from its viticulture and production methods. For a brief rundown, Cognac is made solely from Ugni blanc grapes and is double-distilled, resulting in a more neutral and higher proof eau-de-vie, a sort of blank canvas on which oak flavor can be imparted. On the other hand, Armagnac undergoes one continuous distillation from a wine of up to ten grape varieties. The resulting spirit is lower-proof and retains more aromatic compounds from the base wine, a discernible fruity and floral expression, that can take years of oak age to be tamed. 

Armagnac, with its interplay between grape and oak characteristics, makes for a fantastic after-dinner drink, or as an enticing twist on your favorite cocktail! Check out a few of our favorites: