I recently was invited to dinner at my friends father's home and went searching in my liquor cabinet for possibly finding a bottle of something I could take along. The only item in there without the seal cracked was this bottle of B&B. I have hung on to it for the last 8 years never opening it as it was a very large bottle and very expensive (top shelf liquor) and I did not wish to open only for me to have a glass of brandy by the fire. I had bought this bottle as a gift for the man I had been dating at the time. He had been my first love from high school, we dated for well over 2 years and had thought of marriage. But then he dumped me and we both moved on. 30 years later we reconnected and spent another year and a half in each others company....and I dumped him. (graciously of course) Any how he was the man who introduced me to the pleasures of B&B. It is refreshing and relaxing at the same time. A wonderful drink for after dinner. But I of course still prefer my red wine. B&B goes down nicely as a shot....but this is not the kind of lady I wish to be, although I have done my # of B&B shots. Drinking B&B out of a beautiful crystal brandy snifter is a classic moment and a time in my life I will always remember. Well back the the OLD bottle of B&B in my cabinet......So I decided to give this to my friend's father, hoping all the while he would appreciate it as much as I know other B&B drinkers do. It was a hit! It was the right choice. He was so joyful at receiving this, he handled the bottle as if it were a precious thing to behold. It made my heart smile and be full of joy for making someone this happy over a bottle which I had for 8 years. I know now it went to it's rightful owner. I wish him many happy moments as he savors the fruit from the vine in the bottle.
While dating Mark he educated me on how the cognac was made. I will try to remember now what he said to me and share that with you.
B&B is a French spiced liquor and fine cognac. Benedictine is a herbal liquor made by monks from as far back as 1510. It is composed of 27 herbs and spices. (B&B is great over French vanilla ice cream) In 1930 they started bottling the B&B, a mixture of Benedictine and Cognac together. The history of B&B Cognac Liqueur dates back to the early 1930's at New York City's famous "21" club. During Prohibition, a creative bartender was inspired to combine Benedictine Liqueur with French cognac brandy. The drink became such a popular call that the makers of Benedictine decided to bottle these special ingredients together. When the distinctive presence of cognac is accompanied by the subtle hints of honey, herbs and spices in Benedictine Liqueur, the flavor is a delicate marriage of the best of both worlds. Every bottle of Bénédictine has the initials D.O.M. on the label. Mistakenly thought by some to refer to "Dominican Order of Monks" it actually stands for "Deo Optimo Maximo"; "For our best, greatest God".
If your looking for a smooth, slow drink to romance your special someone for Valentine's Day I would recommend having some on hand along with some special brandy snifter's and settle down after an evening out or meal at home in front of the fireplace and snuggle & sip. But may I also recommend .....just one glass! Save the rest of the bottle for some more romantic times!
You may ask if this is a wine blog then why am I writing about cognac.....well cognac is made from grapes by double distilling the white wines and making it to harsh to be a fine wine.
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