What’s the Difference between Cognac and Brandy?
Brandy is made from grapes like wine or a fermented fruit mash but is then distilled and aged in oak barrels like whiskey.
Cognac is a brandy that specifically comes from France’s Cognac region; it must be distilled at least twice and then is aged in French Oak Barrels.
What Is the Best Glass for Cognac?
In the old days, brandy and cognac was always consumed out of a snifter, a glass with a wide bowl that narrows as it comes to the rim.
This glass didn’t have a stem, so you would hold it by the bowl allowing your hand to warm the cognac or brandy.
The thought at the time was that this shape would allow the brandy to aerate. In doing so, the aromas would gather in the bowl and then be directed up to the nose, much like a wine glass is meant to do.
What happens, in reality, is that the wide bowl aerating the brandy, coupled with your hand warming the glass, just released ethanol vapors that would stifle your ability to smell the more pleasing aromas of your cognac or brandy.
So the experts will now drink their brandy from a stemmed glass, so their hand does not warm it. And glass is blown with a thin bowl so that the brandy will not aerate.
This allows you to smell the full aroma of your drink without the bouquet being overpowered by the natural ethanol vapors.
Best for Nosing
The Riedel Vinum Cognac Glasses come from Riedel’s collection of drink specific glassware.
That means that these glasses were designed and created specifically to bring out any brandy or cognac’s full complexity.
The small surface area minimizes oxidation allowing you to smell the aromas without being overpowered by the ethanol vapors.
You’ll notice the long stem on these glasses as well. Unlike the traditional belief, you should not warm cognac with your hand; doing so will release more ethanol vapors and actually stifle your ability to smell the more nuanced aromas.
Instead, let the brandy be served at room temperature.
Best for Hennessy
This is the Spiegelau Cognac Willsberger Anniversary Glass.
A glass designed on the traditional glass blown crystal that Spiegelau became famous for, although these glasses are now made with more modern technology.
The wide base will give a larger surface area for your Hennessy to aerate while the glass begins to narrow at the top, bringing together those aromas and strengthening them, then directing them straight up to the drinker’s nose.
These glasses are made from beautiful lead-free crystal and are 100% dishwasher safe.
Best Snifter aka Balloon Glass
The Riedel Vinum Cognac & Brandy Glass is the best snifter for those who still like the traditional balloon glass that allows you to hold the glass and warm the cognac or brandy with your hand.
Although this is not how the professionals recommend drinking your cognac, drinking is a personal experience, and if that’s what you like, then go for it!
The glasses are made from exquisite leaded crystal and somehow remain dishwasher safe.
Best Stemless Cognac Glass
The Riedel “O” Cognac Glass is one of the best stemless cognac glasses on the market. It is the same shape as the Riedel Vinum Cognac Glass.
A glass that looks similar in shape to a tulip glass but was explicitly designed for cognac.
This glass is the perfect shape for muddling ethanol and allowing the drinker to experience the full bouquet of their cognac or brandy.
It does have a slight disadvantage over its stemmed brother in that your hand is going to warm the glass, but if you’re looking for a stemmed glass, then you may prefer it that way.
Best Vintage Cognac Glass
This Vintage Cristal D’Arques Longchamp Brandy Glass is made in France, the birthplace of Cognac.
It is made of lead-free crystal with hand-carved engravings on the lower bowl of the glass.
This is a heavier style of glass, but it remains well balanced in the hand. The bowl holds 11.25 fl oz, and even though it is crystal, it remains completely dishwasher safe.
The only downside to this glass would be that the cuts in the bottom of the glass do disrupt your view of the cognac, but the beautiful sparkle they make when they catch the light might make up for that.
Personalized Cognac Glass
The English Pewter Company Cognac Snifter With Monogram Initial will make the perfect personalized gift for any occasion.
These glasses are handmade by master craftsmen in Sheffield, England.
On the front, they place a handcrafted pewter badge that is meant to resemble a wax seal, and in the center of that seal will be the initial of your choosing.
These also come in a nice gift box with the glass wrapped in a velvet bag. These are classy, beautiful, and one of a kind.
Best Crystal Glasses
This is the beautiful Waterford Lismore Diamond Crystal Brandy glass.
Few brands are as world-renowned as Waterford Crystal.
They have been making crystal glassware for generations, and this brandy snifter is the product of all of that hard work and know-how.
These glasses are made of fine crystal and feature prismatic cut designs, but despite their elegant fragile look, they are actually dishwasher safe.
Sit down with one of these glasses, and you’ll be drinking from the same crystal snifter that royalty from all over the world drink from as well.
Best Large Cognac Glass
Despite its simple design, the Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal Cognac Glass XXL is special for a few reasons.
For starters, Schott Zwiesel created a glass that has a massive 29.8 fl oz capacity, and at 6.75″ tall and 4.5″ wide, this snifter is enormous.
The second thing that makes it unique is that it is made with Tritan glass.
Much like Crystal is made by adding lead to glass, Tritan’s patented glass is made by adding titanium and zirconium oxide.
This creates glass with the same clarity and refractive index as crystal but has twice the breaking strength.
That means that not only can these glasses handle small drops and spills, but they will never get etched or clouded from the dishwasher.
Best Snifter Warmer
The Old Dutch Brandy Warmer comes as a set of two with the brandy glasses and a tea light.
These warmers are meant to warm the brandy in the glass without making the glass too hot to hold.
They do this by holding the glass over a small candle.
Although warming your brandy is no longer considered the best way to enhance the aromas, people still love a warm glass of brandy, and there is no better item on a cold day than a glass of brandy warmed by the fire.
Something is calming and old school about the whole process as it seems to throw you back in time.
