How do Armagnacs and Cognacs differ?
While Armagnac is the older of the two brandies, the isolation of the Armagnac region and the lack of access to a seaport took it on a much different historical path than Cognac. Cognac capitalized early on its locational advantages and profited greatly from international trade, particularly with the British and Dutch markets. A handful of large Cognac houses grew dramatically, and established recognized brand names in the international markets. By contrast, Armagnac was primarily consumed in France. It is reported that while one bottle of Armagnac is sold in France for every three bottles of Cognac, in the United States the ratio is one to 150. To this day Armagnac remains a craft industry with small, artisanal producers using historic production methods and little or no advertising or international marketing. By contrast, the annual output of each of the large Cognac houses dwarfs the entire output of Armagnac. Cognacs losses through evaporation are nearly four times greater than Arm
