The Taste

Maturity is not the first thing you associate with an 18-year-old, but Rémy Martin 1989 is not your average teenager. Cognac companies don't usually play the vintage game, relying instead on precise blending to marry cognacs from the harvests of many different years. So, unlike scotch and wine, consumers almost never get to taste one single year's results.

Rémy Martin -- the cognac company that's been mispronounced by millions since 1724 (people say REH-me MAR-ten, but it's Ray-ME Mar-TAN) -- kept a very careful eye on the 1989 vintage. The cellar master tasted the vintage once a year and finally decided she's ready for her first date. And what a debutante she is. The brandy -- made from 100 percent Grande Champagne grapes (the very best) and aged in oak casks -- shows a strong vanilla-clove aroma and a smooth fig-forward flavor. It doesn't get much better.

Naturally, the supply of the 1989 is limited, so you'll have to pay the steep price now if you want a bottle. Otherwise, you'll have to be very patient to wait for the next vintage release -- Rémy's previous vintage cognac came out in 1965.

-- James Oliver Cury