It has dawned on me that I haven’t been too exploratory with my cigar pairings. Most of my reviews, I mention either having a rum, coffee, red wine or whiskey when smoking. It wasn’t until I was at a tasting for another brand that I realized that I have totally neglected cognacs. I wasn’t fond of the brand at the event but it did push me to seek a good cognac to drink. I would consider myself lucky to have the Camus VSOP Elegance as my first. @camuscognac is a small family-owned distiller located in the Château du Plessis area north of the city of Cognac. It’s made in classic copper stills but then finished in Limousin oak barrels for a more gentler note.
The color is a deep rich amber to a light orange, brown; I would further say tobacco even in color. Beautiful shine when the light reflects off of it. While I swirl the Elegance around the glen, it seems light in texture, yet it has long lengthy oily legs hanging from the glass…. very buttery. The scent is a beautiful floral summertime scent. Floral in the sense of white flowers such as honeysuckle or magnolias. There’s also that summer fruitiness. I smell honeydew, cantaloupe, and white grapes. It’s similar to a white brut champagne.
There’s more heat than expected based on the scent. It still has that buttery feel over the tongue that I saw while swirling. On taste, it has spikes of white pepper in the middle of the tasting. It calms down afterwards revealing more white grape and melon syrup. There is also a light butterscotch and vanilla sweet taste. This gives the flavor more body and richness. The finish is medium to long; just enough to savor the cognac but not too long that you don’t reach for another for a while. The point of notice here is it’s ‘elegance’ itself. Its delicateness is giving so much in a great presentation of smells and flavor.
The Camus VSOP Elegance is nothing near what I thought Cognac to be. It is also something that I think could go very well with many cigars. I’m going to try this spirit with a mild to medium stick to see how the flavors align.
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