Robbers – Hine Rare Cognac

I am continuing mixing with a liqueur I overlooked so far. Wrongly I attributed Amaretto with cloyingly sweet cocktails in the style of SoCo, Amaretto, Lime. In this case, I made I French Connection variation with a great cognac I came to appreciate some years ago. On top of that, the drink also features a lemon eau de vie in no way inferior to the cognac.

First, let us talk about the cognac. I had the luck to take part in a Hine Cognac tasting years ago. Since, then I am always keeping  cognac from this house in very high regard. In this case, I am reviewing the Hine Rare V.S.O.P Cognac which is a blend of 20 and more eau de vies. Sixty per cent of the Ugni Blanc variety grapes come from the Grande Champagne and forty from the Petite Champagne appellation. The blended eau de vies are then aged in French Limousin oak casks for six to twelve years.

Typical Hine Cognac notes

The Hine Cognac delivers everything you can expect from a V.S.O.P cognac. In addition to a candied violet note which has a typical complexity for Hine. Apart from that, the cognac is quite fruity with grape and red wine notes. On top of that, you can find a lot of spices in the taste, especially cinnamon and a lot of vanilla. While cognacs can be a little boring sometimes, the Hine Rare is quite complex while remaining true to its house style.

Never change a running system

While some might call it uninspired, I thought something that worked once, will surely work again. So, as I did with the Godfather cocktail a few weeks ago, I simply did add a citrus eau de vie to the drink. However, this time I added a lemon eau de vie from Manuel Engel to the base of a French Connection cocktail. Manuel distils his lemon eau de vie from organic Sicilian lemons of the Feminello variety. It is bottled at 42 % ABV and carries as much lemon flavour as you can imagine. It certainly is the best classic lemon eau de vie I have tried so far.

While the drinks sounds very heavy and quite sweet, it nevertheless is rather balanced. The lemon eau de vie lends the drink a certain freshness and dry note. The fruitiness of the cognac also works perfectly with the almond and marzipan notes of the amaretto. If you want you could add a few dashes of bitters to add even more complexity. Yet, the simplicity of the drink also has its beauty!

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The cognac and the amaretto were provided by Borco and the lemon eau de vie by the Engel Naturbrennerei.