Cognac is a spirit with two sides. On the one hand, it’s a distillate that understandably carries a certain verve: it’s French, historic and closely linked to luxury. Once the favored tipple of Napoleon, today Cognac often features in verses from popular hip-hop artists, its close ties to wealth doing plenty of lifting there.
Despite all this free promotion, cognac could also be considered an underappreciated tipple. The year so far has been a particularly bumpy one for the industry.
China, once a great bastion of cognac drinkers, has seen sales slump potentially up to 70%. Supposedly, this is thanks to a combination of the downturn in Chinese real estate and a crackdown on corruption. Additionally, since July 5, China has added high import duties to European brandy (all cognac is brandy, not all brandy is cognac). Some major players in the cognac industry have been given an exemption from this, although only if they agree to sell at a currently undisclosed minimum price. Which impressively sounds even more ominous than a standard directive from the CCP.
Add to all that the classic ‘Gen Z doesn’t enjoy drinking as much as other generations’, and ‘Ozempic is not just making people eat less, but drink less as well’, and suddenly the situation is starting to look a little gloomy. It would appear then that Cognac may have met its Waterloo.
Which is a great shame, because a few days ago, a bottle of Martell arrived on my doorstep, and it’s rather good.
Cognac is typically served neat. Going so far as to add a little water or a cube of ice is enough to turn some traditionalists apoplectic. Cognac connoisseurs can be even more particular about their drop than Scotch drinkers, an impressive feat indeed. However, this is a cocktail column, so the recipe “pour cognac in glass and drink,” is not going to cut the mustard.
Thankfully, in addition to a bottle of the good stuff, Martell also sent over a series of cognac twists on classic cocktail recipes that are getting increasingly popular. The theory is simple. Even the staunchest of margarita drinkers will eventually want some variety from their go-to.
Well, why not switch the tequila for cognac, and boldly step forward into the brand new world you have just discovered? You can even start referring to yourself as a cognac drinker. Doesn’t that sound fantastic?
Who wouldn’t want to share a favorite drink with Napoleon? Now I am almost 100% sure that Napoleon never had the chance to try a Martell Margarita, but if he had, maybe he would have calmed down on world domination, called it quits after Austerlitz, and not tried to invade Russia during the winter. Just a thought.
As a shocking final twist, for this cocktail we will not be using cognac at all, thanks to the very finest example of French bureaucracy. The Martell Margarita uses Martell Blue Swift, which is the brand’s classic VSOP finished in Kentucky ex-bourbon casks. Think ‘Born French, Raised American’. The issue is, to be officially counted as cognac, a spirit must be aged in French oak only. However, the extra notes provided by the ex-bourbon casks make Martell Blue Swift the ideal candidate for our new cognac margarita, and since we are already breaking all the rules by using this fine spirit in a cocktail anyway, one more won’t hurt anybody.
Ingredients
1 ¾ oz Martell Blue Swift
¾ oz Orange liqueur
2 ½ oz Sugar syrup
¾ oz Lime juice
Method
Add all the ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a Marie Antoinette, or whatever vessel you have to hand. Enjoy.
