Cognac

[baruch]

fat guy: bux & i also agree on this point. as a well respected foodie, i have come 2 look frwrd to bux's comments - good or bad! i don't consider the "situations" i encountered @ gascogne to be an anomaly, so for me, i will never go back. as to your other satisfied readers. i'm glad to hear they have not yet experienced gascogne's (frequent) darkside. again, thx to bux's comments which coinside with mine.

[Bux]

For the record, it was the cooking that I most found troubling. No one attempted to steal my clothes and I do not recall an overcharge.

[baruch]

thx 4 the clarification & sorry if i had misquoted. gascogne is probably the ONLY place n manhattan i would even attempt 2 dissuade some1, any1, from visiting. but then again, every1 is s.t. 2 their own likes & dislikes. so 4 those who frequent gascogne, enjoy, but beware! end of blasting   :)

[Fat Guy]

I haven't been in a while and the comments I posted are also a bit long in the tooth, so one explanation may be that there has been a decline. That would at least account for everyone's veracity. Let's hope it's a temporary thing.

[Bux]

Fat Guy: That would at least account for everyone's veracity. Let's hope it's a temporary thing.

Indeed, truth is an overrated commodity.  ;)

[bpsklar]

I have a bottle of Martell Cordon Argent. Any idea of its value?

[jordan]

Do you mean Cordon Bleu?  Martell is a great producer but I am not too familiar with thier names/ages.  I think it goes something like this:

vs-5yrs-$30-35

vsop-10yrs-$40-50

Noblige-?-$60

Cordon Bleu-20-$100-125

xo-20+-$125-150

extra-?-$275-300

L'Or-50+-$1000

[Wilfrid]

One would imagine the silver ribbon comes somewhere between the blue and the gold.  The relevant page of the Martell web-site is here.  

I can't see the answer, but then the web-site seems to be a little out-of-date.  However, you could e-mail them from the site and put the question.

[bpsklar]

I mean Argent. Cordon Bleu is available, but Argent isn't. I bought a case of it about 25 years ago. I have one bottle left.

I also had a bottle of Martell Exrta, which is all gone. So sad.

 

[jaybee]

Jason and group, I'm with the armagnac crowd.  For $50-$70 you can get a superb bottle at most good spirits stores.  An equivilant cognac (Ragnaud or Delamaine for example) will cost at least as much and, to my taste, not be as enjoyable.  I once bought a bottle of 1943 in Colmar.  I asked the clerk to give me the best bottle he had for $100 (500 FF at the time). It lasted for nearly two years (I only served it to a very select few).  What a treat!  Acker, Merrill and Condit (W 72nd St.), for New Yorkers, has a good selection of reasonably priced very good cogancs and armagnacs.

[jhlurie]

I've been converted to the legion of Calvados fans.  I now prefer it to either Cognac OR Armagnac.

[sugarhill]

the hubby and i just returned from france over the new year and discovered the marvelous armagnac...so much so we brought a couple of bottles home. we just have some cheap $3 snifters ... which i'd like to replace as a gift. is there a difference between brands? what should i look for? is there a particular place i should check out (in NYC) as opposed to the typical williams-sonoma or dept store?

[beans]

Welcome to eG sugarhill!

Prior to purchasing glasses, please do check this thread.

Cheers!