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I’ve read that both cognac and brandy make excellent sipping drinks in the winter.  What is the difference between the two?  Is one a better choice to try first?

Not to get too cute, but cognac is brandy.

Just like Champagne is a specific type of wine,  cognac is a specific, premium type of brandy, made in the Cognac region of France and following a specific set of rules outlined by the government. Both brandy and cognac can be great winter tipples — they have much of the same body and effect as a good Scotch or bourbon, but with an underlying grape-like sweetness.

Now, brandy could technically be any liquor made by fermenting fruit juice, then distilling the resulting cider, but “brandy” means grape brandy. Others will be referred to specifically as “apple brandy” or “peach brandy” , or other names, like applejack, or kirschwasser — German for “cherry water”.

Until around 1950, when vodka became popular, brandy — with gin, whiskey, and  rum — was one of the most popular liquors, both in America and elsewhere. Today, brandy has fallen out of favor as an everyday drink, but it’s still considered a great digestif by the country-club set. (Also, incongruously, cognac has become popular in the hip-hop community.)

Cognac, according to regional regulations, must be aged for at least two years in French oak. Master artisans at each cognac distillery blend much older cognacs with younger batches to create products meeting the same standards as bottles  produced generations before (and, ideally, bottles that will be produced in generations to come.)

Cognac-producing distilleries use  acronyms to describe the various grades of cognacs they sell.  I cribbed a list from this entry on dummies.com :

• A.C. – The youngest cognac in the blend was aged for at least two years.
• V.S. (Very Special) – The youngest cognac in the blend was aged for at least three years.
• V.O. (Very Old) – The youngest cognac in the blend was aged for at least four years.
• X.O. (Extremely Old) – The youngest cognac in the blend was aged for at least eight years.
• V.S.O.P. (Very Superior Old Pale) – The youngest cognac in the blend was aged for at least eight years, with extra care taken to ensure the others  are of superior quality. The average age of cognacs in a V.S.O.P. blend will be between 10 and 15 years old.

You may recognize some of those acronyms from whisky bottles –  though their usage there isn’t  regulated.

Any cognac is guaranteed to be a high-quality product, and will be sold at a premium price. Most other brandies are made using the same techniques as cognac, though, and a decently aged brandy — especially one whose producer uses and abides by the above definitions — can be just as good, and possibly a much better buy. Either way, drink from a snifter you hold constantly in your hand — it’s  best consumed as close to body temperature as possible, and the heat from your hand will help. (You could also fill the glass with hot water, then discard it immediately before pouring your drink.) And remember, brandy and cognac are sipping drinks — nobody will be impressed if you gulp it back all at once.