RAISING THE BAR

WELCOME TO the turn of the 20 century,” said my guide, Marielle Chopin-Pascaud, as I entered the tasting room of on a quiet street in downtown Cognac. As four generations of Bache-Gabrielsens stared down at me from black-and-white portraits, I sipped the double-distilled brandy that bears the name of this city and region. Blended from spirits dating as far back as World War I, the drink offered a complex taste from another era: rich, unctuous, with evocative aromas and flavours of well-worn leather, dark tobacco, antique furniture. It was the sort of brandy you’d imagine a man in a smoking jacket might drink from a snifter while sitting before a roaring fire.