Thread: Cognac conundrum

So I just picked up 3 Elisabeth cognacs, VS, VSOP and XO.
Now do I start with the XO and go down or with the VS and go up or do I go insane and dont try them all back to back but go through one bottle at a time?

This is a serious problem as I am planning rack of lamb Sunday with baked Alaska an will have t finish the meal in style but dont want to mess it up. And no I do not work on Monday but I may be redoing a deck

Definitely do not go insane and do not mess up

I think the solution is not 'or' but 'and'. I would go first down then up but you may prefer doing it the other way.

I would be willing to offer free in-person demonstration as well

Don't ever go down. Every time you go down you will experience a slap in the face. If you go up you will really appreciate the higher quality unless you have had too much of the previous one. i would stick with the same bottle all night. Unless you want to do a tasting in which case you should really go up and take very small sips from an individual bottle.
I guess you will be drinking wine or beer with the lamb and have the cognac with a coffee and cigar. So there will be no need to have more than one bottle open.
My 2 cts.

I want to taste all 3 t compare so at some point I need to have them all open. No coffee after we are tea drinkers in this family but the rest is spot on

Alan
First what time is dinner? I will help you decide. We can start at the bottom and keep going til we reach the top. Just make sure we take our time so we are not too drunk to enjoy the top with all it's magnificent qualities.

Dinner is whenever the lamb is cooked

I would have to agree that going down is probably more disappointing than going up, but I like to do it so that I get a better idea what is the extra goodness I'm paying for. Of course staying too long at any level tends to make them all look the same

Here's another possibility - aperitif vs. digestif

Well I didn't open the cognacs last night Turns out we started with appetizers, some very expensive and some home made cheese paired with a fantastic Sancerre, then onto the Lamb with a even better Crianza. Combined with the excessive heat I decided to wait until I could truly enjoy the cognac. I have decided I will make some maple rum smoked salmon this week which should go great with the cognac though
BTW here's a pic of the baked Alaska I made with my daughter, first attempt turned out pretty well