Our family enjoyed travel, food and fun this holiday season! Here’s a bit of what’s happened around here since I last posted.
Do you see that tree in the background? Yes, I really did put up three trees this year! Who am I?!?! I also, like a crazy person, wrapped gifts in a cute theme…*sings* brown paper packages tied up with string!!! (You’ll have to zoom in because I can’t find a picture of the ones I wrapped by themselves.)
Black Panther guarded all the presents.
Let me tell you about this toddler of mine. THIS guy decided he didn’t want to participate in the school Christmas program…so I just got a few pictures of him doing his own thing on the side. Had I KNOWN he was supposed to perform Jingle Bells, I would have practiced with him beforehand! lol Of course, he shook his pretend bell to the song the next day at Granny’s house.
As you should have guessed from the ornament, it was Black Panther mania in our house! Even more Black Panther items were added to his collection later that day.
Finally, the boy enjoyed seeing all the lights at the zoo! We went after Christmas to avoid a big crowd, but it was STILL pretty crowded!
Ok, on to the good stuff…the Christmas SPIRITS!
About a week ago I posted a meme about Hennessy being nasty…well…this sparked a little debate in the comment section and made me think. Should I reconsider Hennessy? Aren’t there better tasting cognacs on the market? I’m SURE there are! To end the debate (at least for a while) my team and I sampled a variety of contenders on Christmas Day. My husband named this contest…The Yak-Off!
We sampled the following in this order…Hennessy was in the middle since we were comparing the others to it:
- E&J XO*
- Smooth, sensual and seductive. Nothing is smoother than E&J XO brandy. XO is barrel-aged to bring out sweet vanilla, creamy toffee, brown sugar and soft maple notes with a hint of toasted oak, along with subtle aromas of lavender and hibiscus. E&J XO looks good, it smells good and it tastes great.
- Salignac
- A distinct blend of young cognacs before aging for a unique and extremely smooth cognac. Soft flavors of vanilla and caramel with a great balance of oak and subtle spice. Enjoy neat or on the rocks.
- Hennessy VS
- The world’s most popular Cognac, Hennessy V.S is the modern-day equivalent of the original Hennessy 3-Star. It is an expression of expertise and consistency, centuries in the making.
- Courvoisier VS
- The fusion of younger and older cognacs gives Courvoisier® VS a fruity, delicate taste and a bouquet filled with ripe fruit and spring flowers.
- Remy Martin VSOP
- A perfect harmony between the firm character of ripe fruit and subtle notes of liquorice, offering a great complexity of elegant and powerful aromas.
*This is actually a brandy…while cognac is a type of brandy, not all brandy is cognac. I still think it counts for comparison, but you decide how picky you want to be.
** I got the descriptions, except for Salignac, from their websites. Salignac is owned by Courvoisier, but I found a good description on the Total Wine & More site.
After much debate, and to our surprise, here’s what the judges thought. The bottles are in order from l-r. It turns out Hennessy isn’t the worst out there! lol I know I only scratched the surface of cognacs on the market, so I look forward to trying more to challenge Hennessy’s throne a bit more!
Semi-Reluctant Homemaker 