208 / 272
U. K. B. G. GUIDE TO DRINKS
than it would be if it were opened in 1925. Therefore,
there is no such thing as a vintage brandy.
Liqueur brandy is merely a blend of brandies in which a
larger proportion of the older and more mature brandies is
present in the composition of the blend, thus giving it
much more mellowness and bouquet than it would have
if it had too much of the younger brandy present in the
blend.
ARMAGNAC
Another interesting brandy is that from the region of
Armagnac, which lies to the south-west of France in a
triangular piece of land roughly bounded by Bordeaux,
Toulouse and Pan, which was fixed by a French Law of
1909. The area is divided into three regions:
1. Lower Armagnac—^which produces about60% of the
total production.
2. Tenareze—which produces about 30% of the total.
3. Upper Armagnac—which produces about 10% of
the total.
A spirit was made in this area as far back as the latter
half of the 14th century, but it was devoid of any finesse.
In the 16th century, due to better methods of distillation,
it became better known, but with the rise of Napoleon the
use of Armagnac was confined to the area of its manufacture
until the war of 1870-71, when it came back into fashion
again. It is not a cognac but has a peculiarity of its own.
208