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Cognac
Spirits & brews· spirit

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
- Brandyboth carry ethyl lactate, butterycite
- Oloroso sherryboth carry ethyl lactate, butterycite
- Bourbonboth carry syringol, smokeycite
Salt and acid
Salt
Salt not measured yet.
Acid
Acid not measured yet.
Unusual pairings
Pairs the library can cite that almost nobody makes.
- Cognac + Bourbon
both carry syringol, smokey (5 of 338 carry it)
- Cognac + Almond
both carry isobutanol, musty (29 of 338 carry it)
- Cognac + Apple
both carry β-damascenone, cooked apple (27 of 338 carry it)
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 XO — Ma 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 brandies — Ma 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 XO — Ma 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 samples — Ma 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 brandies — Ma 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 brandies — Ma 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 XO — Ma 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 spirit — Ma 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 brandies — Ma 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