127 / 374
DRINKS.
127
brandy
may
mature,
and
that
the
fusel
oil
may
develope
into
the
ethyls,
which
give
such
flavour
and
fragrance
to
the
brandy.
Perhaps
the
oldest
house
in
the
Cognac
district
is
Hennessy's,
but
it
would
be
invidious
to
say
that
their
brandy
w^as
superior
either
to
Martell's,
Otard
and
Dupuy's,
the
Societe
Vignicole,
Courvoisier,
or
many
other
firms.
That
must
be
left
to
individual
taste.
But
from
these
firm.s
we
can
rely
on
having
pure
un-
adulterated
brandies,
the
pure
product
of
the
vine,
without
any
admixture
of
grain
or
beet
spirit.
At
one
time,
adulteration
was
rife
among
the
farmers,
but
in
1857
and
1858
several
of
them
were
prosecuted,
and
they
are
now
credited
with
having
abjured
their
evil
ways.
J.
A.