COBRAFIRE
A true spirits nerd bottle, Cobrafire is distilled in the Armagnac region of France from the Folle Blanche and Baco grape varietals and bottled at full strength. We felt this distillate expressed itself more like a “grape eau-de-vie” than an “unaged Armagnac” (which it technically is), hence we shunned the “Blanche d’Armagnac” appellation and had it bottled as an “eau-de-vie de raisin”. The 51.3% abv are perfectly integrated, the hallmark of a very skilled distiller.
DISTILLATE:
Yes, there is a Cobra on the label. The word “fire” is displayed. So what? Taste it. Try it without water first. Give it a chance as is. You’ll see. You’ll be surprised. It ain't what you think it is.
Truth is, the proof at which a distillate is bottled does not mean much as to how it will drink. If the distiller is skilled and knows their art, a 60%+ ABV distillate will drink amazingly soft. Meanwhile, rot-gut industrially-produced 40% abv booze will burn, badly. Distillation is an art. A spirit shouldn't be judged by its ABV but by who distilled it and how good at the job this person is.
Ok, this thing is 51.3% alcohol, so it won't exactly go down like milk. If it does, you're handling breakfast wrong.
WHY:
What’s Blanche d’Armagnac? Well, that’s been our issue for years.
Blanche is an appellation launched in 2015 to somewhat capitalize on the vodka/white spirits craze with the idea of getting Armagnac more play behind bars. Let’s face it - who is mixing with Armagnac? Pretty much nobody.
So, having a “white” Armagnac - the unaged version of the brown stuff - seemed appealing.
But when one is in the business of selling hard-to-sell spirits, here is how peddling Blanche d’Armagnac goes:
EXPLAIN WHAT BRANDY IS
EXPLAIN THAT COGNAC IS A BRANDY
EXPLAIN WHAT ARMAGNAC IS IN RELATION TO COGNAC
ARMED WITH ALL THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE, EXPLAIN WHY BLANCHE D’ARMAGNAC IS NOT ARMAGNAC, HOW IT’S DIFFERENT, AND WHY
EXPLAIN THE INTENDED USE AND WHAT ONE CAN DO WITH IT
TOTAL TIME SPENT: 15MIN
CHANCE OF SELLING THE PRODUCT: 3% TO 5%...
Often times bottled at 40 or 42% abv, in a round bottle (other bottle shapes are permitted but a specific bottle has been deemed the Blanche bottle), we felt that the Blanche appellation was the answer to a problem that did not exist, making sales of an awesome distillate more complicated than needed.
So, we decided to change that. Get more of this fantastic liquid to the mouth of the people who care about good booze.
Distillation
Domaine d’Espérance
Column still
Domaine d’Espérance
Teaming up with Claire de Montesquiou, the owner of fabulous Domaine d’Espérance located in the Sables Fauves - a sandy part of the Bas Armagnac sub-appellation of the Armagnac region – I embarked on a project to get unaged Armagnac the recognition it deserves.
Distilled to proof, e-g no water added, from a blend of 50% Baco and 50% Folle Blanche grape varieties harvested in 2017, rested in a stainless steel tank for 3 months before bottling, the juice in this bottle is highly drinkable.
The Process
No additives, no coloring, no sweetener. Pure, unadulterated, unaged distillate.
What’s in the bottle is the true essence of unaged French brandy. Essentially, you’re looking at Blanche d’Armagnac, bottled at full proof.
By now you’ll have understood that we like full-proof, unaged Armagnac. A lot.
This is the stuff one drinks fresh of the still during the distillation campaign (winter). Usually distilled in a small column to anywhere between 50% and 60% alc, the well-made stuff is powerful yet displays this elegance so specific to brandy. Highly aromatic, it tends to offer a weight on the palate, a sort of sweetness, that is extremely pleasing.
Unique
Note: Blanche d’Armagnac by law needs to be rested in an inert container. Why? well, remember we said it ain't white dog?
The new-make stuff tends to be harsh and often not very pleasant, essentially because it is bottled soon after distillation. Some chemical compounds that carry the new-makey aromas have not had time to evaporate and get bottled with the liquid.
To avoid this, the body governing Armagnac decided to mandate Blanche to be rested so any harsh aromas had the time to blow off before bottling.
PRESS
Blanche Armagnac Might Be the Next Big Thing in Cocktails
Domaine d'Espérance …has been working with Nicolas Palazzi, a Bordeaux native who moved to Brooklyn and founded PM Spirits, an importer and distributor of “forgotten spirits.” Palazzi believes blanche has great cocktail potential but is too difficult to explain to bartenders and customers. So the domaine created Cobrafire, a blanche that’s not officially a blanche.
- liquor.com
Cobrafire Eau de Vie de Raisin
Technically, this is classified as “eau de vie de raisin,” not Armagnac Blanche. It's still a dynamic sip: a fleeting peach note subsides into green apple and plum skin, finishing with white pepper, honeysuckle and plenty of cobra-like bite. 90 pts
- Kara Newman, Spirits Editor, Wine Enthusiast
Cobrafire
The team at PM Spirits in NYC has teamed up with Domaine d’Esperance in Bas Armagnac to create Cobrafire, a grape eau-de vie made from equal parts folle blanche and baco harvested in 2017. Clear, with a pleasantly weighty texture and bright white-plum flavors, it makes a fine base for drinks such as a Japanese cocktail, with orgeat and Angostura, yet it’s also smooth enough to sip on its own.
- Rachel DelRocco Terrazas, Wine & Spirits
7 GREAT BRANDIES THAT ARE PERFECT FOR COCKTAIL MAKING
COBRAFIRE EAU-DE-VIE ($52)If you’ve never tried blanche Armagnac, get ready for a rollercoaster of flavor. The white spirit (rested for three months in steel containers) sits somewhere between more familiar brandies, pisco and rhum agricole. It’s tropical, grassy and a touch funky but, in the case of Cobrafire, also surprisingly creamy. It’s the rare bottle that works equally well in a Daiquiri and a Sidecar.
- liquor.com
Why You Need to Give Armagnac a Chance
A white spirit, minimally aged and intended to compete with vodka as a cocktail mixer, Blanche Armagnac hasn’t caught on the way producers had hoped when introduced in 2015. However, Esperance teamed up with Brooklyn-based importer PM Spirits to debut Cobrafire. It’s labeled as grape eau de vie, not Blanche Armagnac; stay tuned to see if this emerging style lands with bartenders.
What is Armagnac? Exploring Cognac’s Older Cousin
“Essentially, Cognac is more like Tequila, and Armagnac is more like mezcal in the way it’s produced,” says Nicolas Palazzi, owner of importer and distributor, PM Spirits, “but not in flavor [although it can occasionally share similar notes with the agave spirit].” Armagnac is a bit more artisanal in nature, and every producer creates a product to their own proof and style making it a fan favorite for spirit nerds.
Going 10 Rounds with Top Bartender Matt Belanger
What’s your favorite shot-and-a-beer combination?
“Really, whatever you’re pouring, but we have a Boilermaker on the menu in Standing Room (the front room at D&C L.A.) that I’m pretty proud of—it’s an Orion and a frozen shot of Cobrafire Eau de Vie de Raisin, which is an over-proof blanche Armagnac. Frozen eau de vie improves most things!”
