There's an interesting article (by Michael Sanders) about Armagnac in this week's NYT Dining Section (Wed, Jan 2, 2008 p F5) .
I discovered Armagnac (pronounced, I think, in American English -- I won't attempt a true French pronounciation -- arm-a-nyak, with a slight accent on either the first or last syllable, according to taste), at the duty-free store in London. I'm not sure which terminal of which airline. But there was an entire row of vintage Armagnacs going back decades. I picked one out at random -- somewhere in the middle of the vintage years. It was fantastic. Like cognac but with a very special distinctive flavor. A year or two later I tried another vintage (older and more expensive, actually). Excellent, but not as special as the first.
Here's the sad part. I don't remember the name of the Armagnac or the vintage years I picked out and tried. The last time I was in a London airport, the vintage Armagnacs were missing, and the only Armagnac available was not as good my first two selections.
So now I'm in a hunt to find my Armagnac again.
Note 1 -- The NYT now does not capitalize "cognac". They used to.
Note 2 -- The NYT writes about Armagnac periodically... Here are some other, older NYT articles on Armagnac:
SPIRITS OF THE TIMES; Armagnac, Cognac's Country Cousin -- February 18, 2004 - By ERIC ASIMOV
In a Glass, A Swashbuckler Called Armagnac -- September 18, 2002 - By R. W. APPLE Jr
FARE OF THE COUNTRY; Armagnac From the South of France -- November 22, 1987 - By FRED FERRETTI
