Nifty Snifters
Backbar carries about 10 different brandies on its backbar, mostly Cognac, an Armagnac, a Spanish brandy and a few piscos. Of these, the most popular is Cognac Pierre Ferrand Ambre.
The most unusual is Camus Ile de Re from an island in the Cognac region. “It gets super salty and funky from being on the coast,” says Treadway. Those guests curious about brandy’s range can order The Really Damn Good Flight ($30), tastes of Pisco Porton, Lepanto Brandy de Jerez and Pierre Ferrand.
Cognac is the main brandy choice at Celeste, along with a few Armagnacs and Calvados. “There are also a couple of American-style brandies for people who want to tiptoe into the category,” says Horocki. Prices range from $10 to a few hundred bucks a glass.
Instead of snifters, neat pours are served in Glencairn whisky glasses, which “surprises guests who are expecting a fishbowl,” says the bar manager. He points out that the glass brings out the aromatics of all brown spirits.
The Cognac Room also lists brandies available for sipping, arranged by subcategories and ranging in price from $12 up to $150 a snifter. To further exploration, the bar offers more than half a dozen brandy flights, ranging from $18 to $230 for a trio of Hennessy Cognac expressions, including Paradis.
The brandy category is growing faster than the overall spirits market. And while the spotlight may be elsewhere right now, brandy continues to thrive among savvy operators who are finding new ways to introduce customers to this venerable spirit.
“Nobody wants to drink what their grandpa drank, but now it’s coming around full circle again,” says Horocki. “Once it was whiskey, then Cognac, and gin, and for a while vodka was king, now it’s back to whiskey. With brown spirits taking off, I think brandy will start coming back.”
Thomas Henry Strenk is a freelance writer in Brooklyn specializing in all things drinkable.