A pipe of port or a barrel of Scotch for my son?

[MrWookie]

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MrWookie-

Thanks for the link! I don't know anything about brandy. I'll try to tase some of that stuff at the bar tonight. Do you age brandy like you age scotch?

I thought about bumping the other version of this thread, but I thought I'd get more replies here (edit: and replies from people who don't read TLDR .. my guess is that a lot of the TLDR folks read the Alcohol forum when it existed). Maybe I'll bump the other one one last time before I actually buy something.

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Brandy ages exceptionally well, possibly even better than Scotch. It's not too hard to find brandies (usually Cognacs) that have been aged for over a hundred years and command thousands per bottle. While I haven't done too much digging, I don't think I've ever seen Scotch that old.

As far as trying it out, getting a snifter of Courvoisier VS (baseline) or VSOP (better) will be a good way to try it out, and it something many bars will have. However, I like even Germain-Robin's cheapest brandy better than either of those ($39 on that site). Picking up a bottle of that or the Shareholder's Reserve ($65), or the more baller XO ($110) will give you a much bettter picture of what you're getting into, and how good it can get with the aging.