Commanders and Cocktails!

Welcome to COMMANDERS AND COCKTAILS!

Some folks know that before I was able to work full time in comics, I worked in a variety of jobs in the wine and spirits field. And the final one of those was for my good friend Nicolas Palazzi’s PM Spirits. Just COMMANDER IN CRISIS, PM works its ass off to be unique, to create trends rather than follow them, and offer craftsmanship and creativity in a field that has, at times, been known to stagnate. I wouldn’t be where I am, writing this, without the support of friends and employers like Nicolas.

So, I thought it would be fun to turn the tables and feature him and his crew below, offering some in-universe cocktail recipes to honor the heroes of the Crisis Command. In the paraphrased words of a greater power, when I left PM I was but the learner. Now, I am the master (well, or closer to it)! And either way, I’m happy to return the support with a feature here, and invite creatives from other fields into the world of the Crisis Command.

STEVE ORLANDO

Commanders in Crisis, Vol. 2

PRIZEFIGHTER

2oz Navazos Palazzi Malt or Corn Whisky
0.75oz La Quintinye Rouge Vermouth
0.5oz cherry liqueur
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Barspoon Absinthe

Instructions:

Build in rocks glass over ice and stir briefly. Garnish with burnt blood orange peel.

SEER

2.5oz Neta Espadin Destilado de Agave
0.5oz La Quintinye Dry
Barspoon of olive brine
Pinch of salt

Instructions:

Build in mixing glass over ice and stir until cold. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with 3 green olives on a pick.

SAWBONES

2oz Père Labat Rhum Blanc 59%abv
4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Sparkling mineral water

Instructions:

Pour Rhum into highball glass over ice. Stir briefly to chill. Top with sparkling water and bitters. Stir once again to combine. Serve without garnish. or Neat pour of Jacky Navarre Cravache d’Or Cognac

ORIGINATOR

1oz Nouaison Gin by G’Vine
0.75oz lemon juice
0.5oz Laurent Cazottes Folle Noire
0.5oz simple syrup
2oz sparkling wine

Instructions:

Build all ingredients except sparkling wine in a shaker and shake lightly to combine. Add sparkling wine to the shaker and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a spring of fresh lavender.

FRONTIER

2oz Père Labat Rhum Blanc 40% or 59% abv - Choose your strength
0.5oz Laurent Cazottes 72 Tomatoes

Instructions:

Build in mixing glass over ice and stir until cold. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with freshly ground black pepper.

COCKTAIL CREDITS: David Yi-Hsian Dong and Nicolas Palazzi of PM Spirits.

The Best Cognacs to Stock in Your Home Bar

Don’t have a bottle of Cognac on your bar? You should.

Cognac—which is a type of brandy (we'll get to that)—has always had an unfairly snooty image. It’s the building block for the Sidecar and the original Sazarac—real down-to-earth cocktail classics. As a result of the French embrace of Black servicemen in World War II, they drank it often. Before it was getting shouted out by everyone in rap, from Tupac to Drake, Hennessy became the first spirits company to place ads in Ebony and Jet magazines. (It was also was omnipresent at my cousins’ weddings at Chinese banquet halls, where there was a bottle of Hennessy on every table, right next to a two-liter of 7-Up for mixing.) Cognac has history, and it's not just pinched-face old white guys in smoking jackets swirling snifters, is what I'm saying. So yes, while you can easily shell out thousands of dollars for aged Cognac in Baccarat crystal, there are great bottles at every price point.

Best Bang-For-Your-Buck Cognacs

Paul Beau VSOP

None of the Cognacs in this category are what you would call cheap, but the idea here is value. “Paul Beau VSOP is an exquisite spirit that sells for around $60, but what makes it a great value is that this VSOP is really an average age of 15 years old,” says Thorn. “This could be labeled as an XO, which would typically fetch at least $100.”

Guillon-Painturaud VSOP Grande Champagne

Similarly, Guillon-Painturaud VSOP Cognac is also an average age of fifteen years old, far exceeding the VSOP designation. “Line Guillon-Painturaud produces on her family’s 18 hectare estate, and she is one of the few female master distillers in Cognac,” Thorn says. “Her Cognacs are elegant and fruit forward, and they are ridiculously good value considering the ages that are in the bottles.”

Navarre Vieille Reserve

“Navarre Cognacs are such a treat. Jacky Navarre is a fourth-generation distiller, and his production methods are slow and old-school. He hand-harvests the grapes, distills in small batches, and does not reduce with water, but instead allows reduction to take place only in barrel over time. The average age is 40 to 50 years old. Navarre Vieille Reserve is around $250 retail, and it is worth it.” —Kellie Thorn

Our Favorite Bottles to Give (and Receive)

Eleven writers, spirits experts and bartenders pick the one bottle under $75 they'll be gifting this year.

Over the course of the year, we’ve asked a number of sommeliers and retailers to weigh in on the wines we ought to be drinking—orange wines, summer wines, quarantine wines. We even compiled a list of our favorite cocktails, the ones we turned to time and again to keep us sane in the depths of isolation. But now, as the annual tidal wave of gift guides is upon us, we thought we’d check in with our team and our favorite spirits connoisseurs to see how they’ll be tackling their holiday gifting this year. The question was simple: What is the one bottle you’ll be giving—and would be very excited to receive—under $75. Here’s what they had to say.

R. Navarre Pineau des Charentes Vieux

Navarre Blanc Pineau des Charentes Vieux

This pineau has been aged for an impressive 30 years, leading to complex notes of honey, raisin, almond and even a hint of mushroom. It’s such a versatile spirit, which can be enjoyed neat as an aperitif or digestif, or a splash can be added to a classic Martini or a glass of brut Champagne. [BUY] —Paul McGee, co-owner, Lost Lake

How Cocktails Are Helping Armagnac Reinvent Its Image For A New Generation

La Boutique Des Vins in Toulouse’s historic Carmes neighborhood is one of the more popular spots for local residents to browse for just the right wine or spirit, maybe even a craft beer. On a quiet Friday evening when store traffic was still sparse, Noémie Cassou-Lalanne arrived in the hopes of convincing customers to reconsider a traditional spirit that might only rarely be on their shopping list.

Surrounded by a nook of shelves filled with wine bottles, teas, and chocolate bars, Cassou-Lalanne set up a small table and a silver tray with three bottles of Armagnac from the Pellehaut domaine in the Gascony region where she’s in charge of marketing. She then improvised a small bartending station, complete with cutting board, mint leaves, a pestle, tiny umbrellas, ice cubs, and simple syrup to make Armagnac Mojitos.This reimagined cocktail used two types of Armagnac that this artisanal industry hopes will revitalize the image of France’s oldest eau de vie. The first, L’Age de Glace Château de Pellehaut, is a light-brown blend of Armagnacs that have spent little time aging a barrel. The other is Blanche Armagnac, a clear white spirit that has not been aged.

Queen Snake - Shannon Tebay, Death & Co.

INGREDIENTS

Serving: 1

• 1 1/2 ounces blanche de armagnac, preferably Cobra Fire Eau de Vie de Raisin

• 1/2 ounce Clear Creek Douglas Fir Eau de Vie

• 2 teaspoons lychee liqueur, preferably Giffard Lichi Li Lychee Liqueur

• 1 teaspoon crème de cacao, preferably Marie Brizard

• 1 lime shoulder

DIRECTIONS

1. Express lime, leave in bottom of a Sazerac glass.

2. Combine all ingredients and stir to integrate.

3. Top with cracked ice.
   
   

Claire de Montesquiou plunged into Armagnac 30 years ago with her husband after living in England. They bought Domaine D’Espérance and began to restore its vineyards. They believed the clay soil on the far western part of the official Armagnac region would yield high-quality grapes. Three decades later, they’ve developed a strong international reputation while also staying small. “I make small quantities of high quality,” she said. “It’s like if you wanted to compare haute couture to ready-to-wear.”

She’s also brought a willingness to experiment. Several years ago, she connected with Nicolas Palazzi, a Bordeaux native who had moved to New York City where he worked as an importer and brand ambassador. Palazzi was passionate about Armagnac, but he felt it was too complicated to explain to bartenders and potential customers. “The fact that it’s called Blanche Armagnac makes it really hard to sell in my world,” he said.

Cobrafire, eau-de-vie raisin

He worked with de Montesquiou to create a product called Cobrafire. Rather than sitting in a still container for 3 months and having water added, the Armagnac is distilled at a lower alcohol rate, bottled after one month, and then sold as an “eau-de-vie raisin.” 

“I’m a big proponent of putting stuff in a bottle at its natural proof,” Palazzi said. “If you try it and you like it, and then you need to add water to it, then you can do it. But it’s not someone in a lab deciding for you.”

It’s a sharp break with tradition. But Palazzi said Armagnac makers need to take some chances if their product is going to reach a wider audience.

“What we’re trying to do with Cobrafire is to reframe things so that people are interested,” Palazzi said. “We’re trying to sell something really good. I want to let people discover the work of distillers who really care about their stuff.”

Ten Outstanding Cognacs That You Have Probably Never Heard Of

Cognac is one of the world’s great spirits. Its history dates back almost four centuries. Its presence in the U.S. goes back almost as long. It has been intimately intertwined with American history. George Washington was a fan. He drank it in his camp during the Revolutionary War and served it to his guests at the first Presidential Inauguration.

Cognac was the basis of most cocktails in the U.S. long before bourbon became the quintessential American spirit. Cherry Bounce and Fish House Punch, two popular drinks during colonial times, both featured Cognac. The original recipe for that classic American drink, the mint julep, was also Cognac based. The bourbon version did not appear till the late 19th century. The first American book of cocktail recipes The Bartender's Guide, by Jerry Thomas in 1862, mostly featured Cognac based drinks…

…France has hundreds of Cognac producers. The four largest producers, however, account for 90% of the U.S. market—Courvoisier (Beam Suntory), Hennessy (LVMH), Martell (Pernod Ricard) and Rémy Martin (Rémy Cointreau).

Most Cognac producers do not export to the U.S. market. Bottling Cognac to meet U.S. bottling requirements, 750 ml versus 700 ml bottles, is expensive and burdensome. Finding a U.S. distributor is difficult, especially given the relatively small volumes that they produce. That’s a pity, because most Cognac enthusiasts have little opportunity to taste the wide range of Cognacs produced in France.

Recently, I asked Max von Olfers for his recommendations of outstanding Cognacs that are relatively unknown in the U.S. Max, along with his sister Sophie, runs Cognac-Expert.com, a Cognac based mail order supplier of Cognac to consumers worldwide. The website features more than 1,000 Cognac expressions, that’s easily 10 times more than even the best stocked U.S. retailer would carry.

Below are 10 recommendations from Max, plus a couple of my own, of outstanding Cognacs. They range from relatively common, at least in Cognac, to quite rare. Price wise they range from under $100 to over $5,000 a bottle. All bottles are 700 ml. Max’s comments are below (in italics), followed by my comments.

Navarre Cravache d’Or - $110
Cognac Navarre Cravache D'Or

Cognac Navarre Cravache D'Or

I love this cask strength Cognac. Non-chill filtered, not colored or boiséd. No water is used during the aging process, and all the grapes are hand-harvested—this is the ultimate in artisan production. This Cognac explodes with aroma and has an evolving floral palate that’s so typical of a Grande Champagne eau-de-vie, 45% ABV, 90° proof/cask strength.

Boisé is a syrup produced from a mixture of Cognac, sugar and wood chips. It’s made by macerating, and sometimes boiling, oak chips with lower-proof spirit. The process extracts color from the oak chips and when sugar is added produces a concentrated syrup. When added to young Cognacs, it can make the spirit look and taste older than it is. The addition of boisé to Cognac is quite common among producers and is permitted by the regulatory body, the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC).