I have to admit, when I saw 36 min, I was frightened 🙂

Denis was great, it was very cool to watch the two of you have such an interesting non-stop conversation. I have never heard of Armagnac, but after seeing this I will be very interested to try it. Great job promoting the region.

QOTD: Sorry, I have none. I'm interested to see the other peep's suggestions that they leave.

Now I'm thirsty for a cocktail. Martini (gin) here I come …

Very well said!

Watched all the way through; learned a ton. I appreciated the explanation of how a “spirit” is made. The guest was very entertaining and I loved the history, but GV is also an excellent interviewer. Sad none of these products are available; sounds good with chocolate and raspberries over ice cream.

Thanks, sometimes I can do that in my sober moments 🙂

I haven't watched yet. I have a question for the vayniacs about a completely different topic, vin santo. How much sediment if any is normal for a bottle of vin santo?

I did learn a lot with today's great episode, I am going to try an Armagnac ASAP.
Thanks for all the interesting and thorough information.

i am lurrrrrrrking………………. 🙂 lurrrrrrrrrking…….

tossin' back some armagnac n coke just to make u happy

Wow! Gary, I?ve watched every episode. I love your show. But I?ve never gotten excited like I did today. I like wine, drink my share, but it?s not really a passion with me. I am passionate about Armagnac, although I seem to rarely drink any distilled stuff these days. Over the years I?ve only recommended, in the comments, two shows. The first was tannat, which you did. The second was Armagnac, which now you have done. I started watching, but when you guys started enjoying the aromatics, I wanted in. So I paused and ran to the kitchen. I found a dusty, greasy snifter. So I had to wash it. Then off to the basement. I found a bottle of Larressingle X.O. It?s probably been there for about 20 years. I enjoyed it immensely as I watched the rest the show. I?m having vanilla ice cream with Armagnac on it as I write this. It doesn?t have the aromatics of the straight stuff, but it sure tastes good. Thanks!!

Wow Gary! I have not seen your show since I moved from California. So I resemble that comment about being a “Lurker” sorry 🙂 But I am back to becoming your numbr one fan! Very interesting show on the Armagnac, I haven't had any in quite sometime now, looks like I will have to grab a bottle. I like you have been enjoying Scotch with a cigar, but Armagnac sound like a good turn for a bit. Thanks for having this beautiful spirit on your show.

Just nice to see you drink and swallow 😉

And the show was damn educational. Good stuff. Bring Denis back sometime.

Would have been a great episode to sip along with the conversation the same Armagnac

Gary, I'm a Queens, NYC native who has lived in SF for the past four years but is moving back to NYC in May. There's a fantastic wine and spirits shop on Fillmore St in SF called D&M that has a massive Armagnac library dating back nearly to Napoleon- the only couple of single vitages missing are WWII ones. I have some ridiculous California Fat Cabs that I'm going to bring by the store when I move back to East Coast. Get ready sucka! Yeahh Boyeee!!!

Wow, awesome. wish I had some.

Interesting guest, even if I don't care for spirits, which also kind of answers the QOTD

The episode was all full of win, except for these failures:

– Bottle was in front of guest's face for the entire first part of the show. Suggestion: get an external monitor so Gary can see the camera view and can adjust bottle/books/buckets accordingly or the camera operator needs to speak up more.

– Alcohol content of the spirit was never uttered. Luckily, when the last bottle was held up to the camera, I was able to pause the video on my Roku and was able to read “40% alcohol”.

Other than those two little discrepancies, I learned a TON about something I've never heard of until now so the episode was great.

QOTD: The odors and flavors make this sound like a really good Southern Comfort. I may try to find some in my area to sample, but I doubt I'll find any here in Joklahoma.

Fantastic interview Gary. Halfway through the video I had to open my '82 folle blache Baron de Lustrac and drink along. Cheers

Really, really enjoyed this episode, GV. Nice interview and fantastic guest (kudos, Denis).

I'm not much of a spirits drinker, but I lived in Toulouse from 1991-1993 and once took a tour of Armagnac and visited a couple of the chateaux there. Still have a bottle of 1967 (my birth year) Armagnac from that trip which has never been opened. May have to try it soon. BTW, the chateau that it came from is located in Condom, France. Woohoo!

QOTD: An Armagnac cocktail doesn't interest me much, but most cocktails don't interest me.

Very good episode. Really educational although on a drink that I seldom or never drink. Denis was a great guest. It was funny to see Gary's style degrade from a great quiet start to back to his normal scattered self after 5-10 minutes. Classic! 😛

QOTD. I don't do cocktails, and I would recommend Armagnac producers to stay out of it and just focus on quality. Why put a premium product on a cocktail. I understand they feel the need to move product but for example I haven't heard good wine producers asking people for their favorite sangria recipe using their wines!!!

Wow i was just thinking about Armagnac the other day and then you have this episode… The interview was great he really makes me want to go out and buy some now..

Thanks!

Great show and guest! Denis is adorable and interesting.

QOTD: I love sidecars which are made with cognac, cointreau and lemon juice so this is an obvious recipe to tweak perhaps substituting a different liqueur for the cointreau. Aperol might work as it has orange notes but more bitter and spice and in my experience blends great with scotch.

I'd be happy to try and come up with something if Denis wants to send me a bottle 😉

GV – since you asked the question, it would be worth answering with a WLTV episode: how does Cognac compare to Armagnac? My take (and a gross generalization, based on a completely unscientific approach) is that Cognac is more delicate and refined, Armagnac is bolder and richer. Cognac is vanilla to Armagnac's chocolate. That being said, I would not be surprised if I and many others could be served a good Armagnac and mistake it for Cognac. Since you enjoyed these so much, it doesn't seem too much to ask that you do a comparison show to give us a little better insight.

Distinctions between wine and spirits prices are that spirits don't have to be consumed within a day or two of opening the bottle, and one glass will do (might do?) for one sitting, so a $200 bottle of spirits can bring a lot of pleasure over a long period of time. But I would like to know from M. Lesgourgeues how long he thinks a vintage Armagnac will last after opening.

QOTD: Cocktails are hot, so I can understand M. Lesgourgeues search for an Armagnac cocktail. It is hard to imagine one (have you ever tried a Brandy Alexander?) My view of the perfect Armagnac cocktail is derived from the recipe for a Mint Julep that a well worn Kentucky gentleman gave me thirty years ago: “First, pour out a jigger of good Kentucky bourbon. Then, fill a tall glass with ice, add two teaspons of granulated sugar and a sprig of crushed spearmint leaves. Add a teaspon of water to the tall glass and mix the contents well with a long spoon. Next, drink the jigger of bourbon. Dispose of the mint sugar water appropriately.”

Can't say I remember ever trying a Armagnac, had have Louis VIII in better days. Viva la France..not really, interesting guest despite that. Sure, Great Gary, bring stuff that's really approachable in this economy, why not Chateau Petrus for $3000 grand a bottle…..thanks for the lesson, if you hit the Mega. QOTD-NO http://www.winelx.com

With all due respect I beg to differ. Liquor while great on it's own can be treated as an ingredient. You would never tell a fine chef not to play with fine foods that would be great on their own because by mixing flavors you can discover something new and delicious and that's what it's all about.

Even though I have never had an Armagnac I really enjoyed this show. Denis was great..in the top 5 of all time.

Freaking solid Episode. Learned a ton and can't wait to try something new.

NICE PLAY!