But it’s through cocktails, rather than sipping neat, that cognac is making its way into the glasses of Londoners. It’s extra old cognac — the really good, really expensive stuff aged for a minimum of 10 years and clocking in at more than £100 a bottle — that goes into the Japanese Cocktail at The Langham’s Artesian bar, Martell’s Cordon Bleu XO blending with pistachio orgeat and bitters to create the smoothest, creamiest rum punch ever. At Bethnal Green’s terribly cool Satan’s Whiskers, general manager Joe Hall likes using it in ‘fruity, creamy and other generally naughty mixed drinks’ like the Bleu Bird — XO, fresh banana, vanilla, apricot, lemon juice and sugar syrup. For Roman Shabodalov, assistant bar manager at the excellent Hawksmoor Spitalfields, using cognac is about heritage. ‘Cognac in cocktails tells a story and you feel like drinking knowledge of many generations that put the liquid in the bottle.’
