Day 48: Taste this! Cognac

One of the things which ties the passengers of the Neptune together is we are all “life-long learners.”

Taking a Viking Neptune cruise around the world is adventure and learning packed into one luxury experience. Our teachers are many; the tour guides, the locals, each other, and the crew continue to open our eyes and minds to new learning.

Two of our teachers are from Bali, Indonesia - Aguag (with Viking since 2015) and Destra (with Viking since 2017). Class this evening is held at 7:30 PM in Torshavn. Nobody shows up late to this class - there are some people waiting at the school door early.

Tonight’s lesson is on “Brandy, Cognac, & Armagnac Testing” - This is a class I just might be able to excel in?

Aguag & Destra (our teachers) walked us through each of four samples - with the 20 year Vieil Armagnac SEMPE being the pinnacle of our tasting journey.

The flavor of the 10 year VSOP [Very Superior Old Pale] Cognac Hennessy reigned supreme over the Calvados, an apple brandy from Normandy.

The differences of wine to brandy to cognac to the finer armagnac’s still elude me. It’s about the fruit, the processes, the distillation, many nuances to create very different tasting experiences.

In my past life (Okay, up until last night!) I have been an “on the rocks” person. I have been taught by our masters the evils of my way. To which I repent.

What we learned was about the large brandy/cognac snifter glasses. They are made with a large base to let your hand’s body temperature heat the cognac, thus releasing the various aromatic smells which contribute to the pleasant tasting experience.

A quick google search says brandy & cognac is versatile and can be drank; on the rocks, room temperature, heated with warm water, or the mild calming motion of the snifter glass in our hands - which just seems to have a new found purity of the process to me.

In Torshavn, you can get just about any year cognac you want. Donna & I plan to find some time to try a 1956 & 1960 … I can tell you already the 1960 will be the better year. They specialize in brandy & cognac there. The bartender’s are happy to hold class for us any time.

This is one subject I don’t mind staying after school for.

#cognac #brandy #myVikingStory #myVikingJourney #vikingNeptuneLeer más