BackVintage Or Not, What Matters Is The Taste
The drinks in your cabinet may not yet state their origins or their ages, but it doesn’t mean that they’re not worthy of your attention
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As I write this month’s piece for Mint Indulge, I note with interest that Swedish furniture retailer and iconic brand Ikea is a step closer to opening 25 stores over the next 15-20 years in India.
Let’s not beat around the bush: Ikea provides fantastically stylish items at a cost that is usually, if not always, very acceptable. Just last month, I got some work done at my home in London and had the entire kitchen replaced. Not only did the kitchen itself come from the Scandinavian giant, but so did the rest of the goods in the new room. From champagne flutes to mugs, it provided me with an entirely new direction to my culinary compass, and at a price that allowed me a wholesale clearing out of my old stuff, for totally new items.
When I first stepped out of my parental home to make my own nest in this world, Ikea was where I turned to furnish my entire home, particularly playing to the style-conscious Norwegian half of me. But as life drifted on, the English pragmatist emerged, and as fun, economical and stylish as Ikea pieces are, durability does not seem to be their watchword. This is highlighted by their flat-pack, build-at-home aspect that relies on those with little or no do-it-yourself skills, such as myself, to assemble the items to a usable standard. Something that I am very bad at.
As a result, I still dabble at the superstore for essentials, consumables and often large item purchases (their mattresses are hard to beat). But slowly, bit by bit, I am replacing my Ikea beds, bookcases and bureaus with vintage pieces, hand-made from solid wood, many of which are older than me, but have a quality that makes me feel like they were built only yesterday.
Of course, this quality, this virtue, worth, strength and competence of craftsmanship does not come cheap. Which is why items are only replaced one by one, when finances allow, space is made, and the right item is sourced.
Someone told me recently that ‘‘the expensive option is often the cheapest one", meaning that if you buy quality products at an added expense, you often find the need to replace less and, therefore, the item has greater, long-term value. And nothing could be truer when it comes to furniture.
However, there is a very powerful parallel between the landscape inside my house and the one inside my drinks cabinet.
When I first started getting into drinks, my (Ikea) cabinet would contain entirely basic, entry-level drinks. And let me tell you something; those bottles of Cutty Sark still hold up a solid base, and if I was living in India, I’d make sure there was always a bottle of Bagpiper, Big Ben and Blue Moon hanging out somewhere, ready to be used as everyday drinking stock or, more importantly, in cocktails, and, even more importantly, in experimental cocktails when no one is looking!
As I have grown to appreciate flavour, rarity, age, maturation and that classic phrase I keep coming back to, craftsmanship, the population of my cabinet (now handmade Ercol) has changed. I’ve narrowed down the ‘‘standard end" of the offerings to bottles I know I love. In the cabinet I now have Johnnie Walker Blues and Royal Salutes, Louis XII, Grey Goose, Beefeater 24, etc., and it is the undoubted quality of these offerings that gives them a space in my bustling collection.
One lineage that seems to follow the quality and the craftsmanship line for drinks is often the age. Although it is not an accurate barometer of quality (for example, I’ve had some great old whiskies, but also some amazing young ones, too. And the same is true in reverse), it is a general rule of thumb, so much so that a guide to age is still key to the sale of certain products in certain markets.
As whisky (of all origins) starts to move away from the burden of an ‘‘age statement" (Johnnie Walker Blue Label, the top of the range in Walker-land, doesn’t tell you how old it is, it just proudly trumpets the fact that it’s a great whisky), you have other spirits that are clearly reliant on not just their age, but also their ultimate base product.
Take cognac. Last month, I wrote about the clear nobility of the drink and encouraged you to have a go, if you hadn’t before, at quaffing some in the comfort of your own home. If you did, you would have found out what an excellent regal tipple it is; sweet and woody, this is in the same flavour ballpark as Indian whisky, but as it is made from grapes, it delivers a richer roundness that can only be found in a brandy.
And with cognac, there are certain elements to look out for on the label, if you’re going to avoid the flat-pack version.
Firstly, and most obviously, is the term ‘‘cognac". Grape spirit, often matured in oak barrels for a minimum of six months, is known commercially as brandy, of which cognac is a subsection. The reason cognac has its own area of designation is due to the quality of the soil in the Cognac region and, therefore, the quality of the grapes used to make this particular type of brandy.
Secondly, it is important to understand the regional variations within the Cognac region. Broken down by soil-quality type, these mapped-out areas can impart different variation into the grapes. The middle of the target, as far as the region is concerned, is known as Grand Champagne. From there, it spirals out to Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bon Bois and Bois Ordinaire. You can also get blends of these different regions, with a mix of Grand and Petite Champagne grapes (where at least 50% is Grand Champagne) being called Fine Champagne.
You will find that most expressions of Cognac, such as Remy Martin and Martell, will have on their label some form of identifier, when it comes to the age of the liquid in your bottle. Cognac must be aged for at least two years (versus, say, Scotch’s three years) in a specific type of cask made from Limousin oak. Once mature, the cognac houses will bottle their own unique expressions, giving them specific titles that relate to their age.
These titles are as follows:
VS, or Very Special, is used for the youngest Cognacs.
VSOP, or Very Superior Old Pale, is used for Cognacs that are four years old and upwards.
XO, or Extra Old; the Cognac in these bottles must be at least six years old, but can often be a lot older.
This system is not the easiest to remember and doesn’t give specific youngest ages, but is strictly controlled by a body called the BNIC (Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac) that is looking to increase those age limits this year.
So it may be that the drinks in your cabinet do not yet state their origins, their ages or their marques, but it does not mean that they’re not worthy of your attention. Similarly, I doubt we’ll ever see an Ikea piece changing hands at a Bonham’s or Christie’s auction in New York or London, the way a classically styled, handmade piece of antique furniture will do. But that’s not really the point; Ikea is never going to have ‘‘XO’’ burnt on the side, but it does a good job.
However, if it is true luxury you’re after, then you can find it in a number of ways and you will, undoubtedly, have an enhanced experience, a lasting enjoyment and you will find my friend’s phrase to ring true—the expensive option is often the cheapest one.
Joel Harrison is a drinks writer and consultant and co-founder of the website Caskstrength.net.
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