Q: What is the difference between Grand Champagne and Fine Champagne and which is the best?
A: “Grande Champagne” denotes that 100% of the cognac in the bottle comes from the area Grande Champagne. This is the smallest, best and most expensive area in Cognac. Grande Champagne is the 1er Cru (first growth) of Cognac. Fine Champagne is at least 50% Grande Champagne and the remainder Petit Champagne, which is the second best area. Fine Champagne is therefore not as expensive as 100% Grande Champagne.

Q: Is it good to warm the cognac glass over a flame before serving.
A: No. Cognac is supposed to be enjoyed at room temperature. Cognac is 40% alcohol (80 proof). If you heat it up, the alcohol will evaporate at a very high rate which will make any cognac seem aggressive. At room temperature the evaporation is perfect. The alcohol will bring up the flavours and aromas naturally without being overpowering.

Q: Which glasses should I use for the ultimate enjoyment of cognac?
A: There are many schools of thought here. What can be said, however, is that the balloon shaped glass which is traditionally considered to be the cognac glass is not the ideal shape. This glass was developed in the 1800s by the English. At that time, room temperature was much lower than today at perhaps 15°C. Cognac was also traditionally stored in the wine cellar which was often even colder. The balloon shaped cognac snifter wasdeveloped so that the cognac could be heated to room temperature by cradling the glass in the palm of your hand, thus heating the cognac to room temperature.

Unfortunately this type of glass has another critical flaw. Where you put your nose (just inside the glass) is exactly where the concentration of alcohol is focused. As to which glass is ideal, we can only recommend a glass for our own cognac. We favor a straight glass, in the celller-master tradition. Pls see picture. As Grande Champagne cognacs are tremendously complex and have different levels of evaporation, we favor a slightly taller glass than most cognac houses. Some also favor a tulip shape, but we have concluded that for KELT cognacs, the cellar master shape is better. Other cognacs do perform better in tulip shaped glass.

We are continuously experimenting with new glass shapes to find the ideal glass for our cognacs but until now the best, in our opinion, is the cellar master glass.