Help me with a practical joke (Cognac based!)

[anonymous-user]

WCZ said:

you need a good backstory (unless you are the kind of person who just splashes this kind of cash around anyway) or he will smell a rat

either way let us know!

Yeh I was going to suggest why not just get something where it could have plausibly been a gift. Like a £100-£150 bottle. He will for sure never have tasted it and you would still get a rise out of him, and it wouldn't be so hard to justify why there is a £1500 bottle of cognac in amongst the Jonny Walker Red Label in your cupboards.

[dazco]

don4l said:

Ffffaster said:

battered said:

Using a decent Spanish brandy is about right, because if he can't tell Spanish from Cognac and he claims to be some sort of expert then it really is egg on face time. Standard Hennessy vs super-duper Hennessy is easy to excuse, you can BS your way out of that. But Spanish to Cognac is like mistaking a Yorkshire bitter for a traditional English ale from somewhere in S England.

Thank you all again.

Working on using a "cheap" Hennessey, which one should I buy? Link would be great. Thank you!

Go to the pub and try a cheap Hennessey.

It tastes like meths.

You will not fool him with a cheap Hennessey.


The cheapest Spanish brandy is "Ciento Tres" (103). It is far better than Remy Martin or Martell. Unfortunately, I do not think that it is sold here.

I am confused where you get this idea that even the cheapest Spanish brandy is better than a mainstream French one.

It is utter nonsense, if you prefer the flavour then fair enough but you should really explain that that is all it is, a preference. 103 is paint stripper , and far from being the cheapest Spanish brandy, and could never be mistaken for a French brandy. Nor could any other Spanish brandies, they have a completely different taste.

Most of the Spanish mid range brandies don't even get to have 40% alcohol, they sit at around 36%.

Don't you think if the cheaper Spanish brandies were better quality than 'meths' like Hennessey the market forces would have sussed this out by now?

I drink brandy, it's my go to drink, and I lived in Spain for ten years drinking either 103 or Soberano because it was there and it was cheap. Not once did I think I was getting a premium product at a bargain price,

I have seen it on sale at the supermarkets and not once did I consider buying it and a trip back to the costa last December saw me return with zero bottles.

Supermarket own brands are better, in my opinion.

Any French brandy might fool the gent in the 'practical joke' (embarrassing your friend is not a joke in my book) except Courvoisier xs which oddly seems not to have the lovely French signature taste, Spanish brandy should be easily detectable.

[don4l]

dazco said:

I am confused where you get this idea that even the cheapest Spanish brandy is better than a mainstream French one.

It is utter nonsense, if you prefer the flavour then fair enough but you should really explain that that is all it is, a preference. 103 is paint stripper , and far from being the cheapest Spanish brandy, and could never be mistaken for a French brandy. Nor could any other Spanish brandies, they have a completely different taste.

Well, clearly I prefer the flavour. I agree that 103 could never be mistaken for a French cognac, and that is why I didn't recommend it.

Have you any recommendations for the OP?