also, if you opened the bottle, you face course of nature - eg:
evaporation...over time, you'll lose some of the contents.
VSOP and XO stands for something, I don't quite remember VSOP but
XO is extra old....VS - typically aged 3yrs, VSOP - 5 yrs, XO - 10
yrs and above. Different houses (or manufacturers) use different
years for each category of their cognac but the average age is
above. Cognac typically consist of blends of "grape juice" of
various age. For example, XO is called XO becos it contains blend
of cognac that has been aged 10 yrs, some 8 yrs, some 6 yrs, etc.
It does not mean 100% of the juice is aged 10yrs. Hence, the
challenge is on the master blender to blend the various stocks of
juice year in year out so as to achieve the same blend every bottle
- so much so that a drinker won't notice. Its unlike wine where
different vintages taste different.
Some prestigious cognac are: Louis XIII, Richard Hennessy,
etc....
Since cognac is basically juice, there's really no fixed rule to
say, drink with glass or cognac glass or paper cups. Its only a
matter of perception. You see uncles swirling their cognac with ice
in cognac glass held in their hand, it portray a certain lifestyle
- which is precisely what the cognac houses want to market - which
directly affect their market positioning. No sane cognac will
recommend drinking their product in paper cups but technically or
objectively, theres no difference if you drink it from the bottle
or paper cup - its a matter of perception.
