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Cognac

Spirits & brews· spirit

Cognac

What it is

Cognac is a brandy distilled twice in copper pot stills from white wine grown around the town of Cognac in southwest France, then aged in oak.

What it tastes like

On the nose: buttery. Among its measured molecules: γ-dodecalactone, γ-nonalactone, syringol, ethyl lactate, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.

What goes with it

154 more go with it. See them all in the full library →

Salt and acid

Salt

Salt not measured yet.

Acid

Acid not measured yet.

Unusual pairings

Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.

Every one of its 15 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

  • acetic acidaromaacidreads as pungent (PubChem)Measured in 35 of 338 ingredients.cite
    119.2-133.7 mg/L across the six Cognac brandies; named in the paper's PLS-DA among the compounds discriminating VSOP from XOMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row 'acetic acid', Cognac columns)
  • guaiacolaromaphenolreads as aromatic odor (PubChem)Measured in 15 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.1-2.1 mg/L across the six Cognac brandiesMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row 'guaiacol', Cognac columns)
  • vanillinaromaphenolreads as sweetish smell (PubChem)Measured in 12 of 338 ingredients.cite
    2.0-5.5 mg/L across the six Cognac brandies; named in the paper's PLS-DA among the compounds discriminating VSOP from XOMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row 'vanillin', Cognac columns)
  • phenylethyl alcoholaromaalcoholreads as sharp burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 41 of 338 ingredients.cite
    8.3-31.9 mg/L across the six Cognac brandies, against 6.3-7.2 mg/L in the three Yantai samplesMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row '2-phenylethanol', Cognac columns)
  • isobutanolaromaalcoholreads as sweet, musty odor (PubChem)Measured in 24 of 338 ingredients.cite
    97.2-409.7 mg/L across the six Cognac brandiesMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row '2-methyl-1-propanol', Cognac columns)
  • syringolaromaphenolMeasured in 5 of 338 ingredients.cite
    0.1-2.5 mg/L across the six Cognac brandiesMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row 'syringol', Cognac columns)
  • ethyl lactatearomaalcoholreads as buttery odor (PubChem)Measured in 9 of 338 ingredients.cite
    3.9-8.4 mg/L across the six Cognac brandies; one of the five compounds the paper found 'most important in discriminating brandy samples from Yantai and Cognac'Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row 'ethyl lactate', Cognac columns)
  • γ-nonalactonearomalactonereads as strong odor reminiscent of coconut (PubChem)Measured in 3 of 338 ingredients.cite
    35.8-57.5 µg/L across the six Cognac brandies; one of the five compounds the paper found 'most important in discriminating brandy samples from Yantai and Cognac'Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, µg/L block, row 'γ-nonalactone', Cognac columns)
  • ethyl acetatearomaesterreads as fragrant odor (PubChem)Measured in 42 of 338 ingredients.cite
    366.0-584.3 mg/L across the six Cognac brandies; the paper's PLS-DA names it as one of the compounds separating VSOP from XOMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row 'ethyl acetate', Cognac columns)
  • γ-dodecalactonearomalactoneMeasured in 2 of 338 ingredients.cite
    34.0-41.7 µg/L across the six Cognac brandies; one of the five compounds the paper found 'most important in discriminating brandy samples from Yantai and Cognac'Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, µg/L block, row 'γ-dodecalactone', Cognac columns)
  • isoamyl alcoholaromaalcoholMeasured in 43 of 338 ingredients.cite
    642.3-710.0 mg/L across the six Cognac brandies — the largest single quantified compound in the spiritMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3 (Quantification of odor-active compounds detected by GC-O and GC-MS in brandies from Yantai and Cognac), row 3-methyl-1-butanol, Cognac columns HVS/HXO/MVS/MXO/RVS/RXO)
  • 5-hydroxymethylfurfuralaromaalcoholreads as butter, caramel, musty (PubChem)Measured in 11 of 338 ingredients.cite
    30.3-89.5 mg/L across the six Cognac brandiesMa et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, row '5-hydroxymethylfurfural', Cognac columns)
  • β-damascenonearomaterpenoidMeasured in 13 of 338 ingredients.cite
    159.4-421.2 µg/L in four of the six Cognac brandies and 0.0 in all three Yantai samples; the paper states 'In our result, this compound was only detected in four brandies from Cognac'Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, µg/L block, row 'β-damascenone', Cognac columns; and Discussion)

Sources

  • Ma et al. 2023, Foods