Showdown: 2 Cognacs, 1 Sidecar
I've been on-and-off with Sidecars, but they're an undeniable classic and I think they're likely the right standard for establishing a "Cocktail Cognac"
Last week, I tried making my house Manhattan with Cognac to see which bottle I should keep around. But I didn’t really like either drink all that much. Which is fine! Not all spirits work in all cocktail configurations, and I think a house Cognac Manhattan would need a pretty different structure to work. But that meant it wasn’t a very helpful separation exercise.
So this week, I tried something else. Something that’s always been designed around Cognac as the base spirit. Something I’ve made a decent amount of, but have never fully figured out. This week, I made a Sidecar.
“Basic” Sidecar Ratios
2 oz Cognac
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz lemon juice
As you can see, this is a classic 2-1-1. It’s basically exactly the “base” Margarita except the spirit is Cognac and the juice is lemon. Pure daisy. Fun, easy, interesting. I’ve made some that I’ve really liked, and others that I’m more lukewarm on. But I don’t know if I’ve ever used either of these bottles as the base, so let’s see how they compare.
With ABK6 VSOP Cognac
The nose here is super clean, just light fresh lemon. And on the palate that continues; it’s super bright and tastes like a straight sour with little sweetness or complexity cutting through. That contributes to an uber-dry finish, kind of like a Martini in some ways weirdly. The Cognac gets almost fully lost as a result.
As it warms up / sits in the glass / continues to meld, that does change a bit. But, the flavor that starts coming through more strongly is almost only the Cointreau. The Cognac continues to hide and the drink gets out of balance in a different way. This is interesting overall, but I struggle to say it truly works.
With Le Reviseur VSOP Single Estate Cognac
There’s some must on the nose here from the jump, but it’s not overwhelming. The drink is still very sour, but it finishes with some funk, not just bone dryness. There’s a real body here, and you can pick the Cognac character out in it directly.
In contrast here, that Cognac comes out more the longer the drink is in the glass, but overall the balance is maintained. It’s not setting the world on fire, but this is a complete cocktail.
The Winner: Le Reviseur
My main issue with the Sidecar, similar to the Margarita, is that the classic 2-1-1 format is just a bit too sour. So, as I build a a true house cocktail around this Cognac, I want to find the best way to address that.