Tycoon Archives

Tycoon VS

Celebrity-backed brandy and Cognac is a notable and growing trend, heavily propelled by hip-hop culture and high-profile music and sports partnerships. High-visibility labels like Jay-Z’s D’USSÉ and 50 Cent’s Branson Cognac have proven that celebrity ownership can turn niche or traditional French spirits into major market contenders.

Tycoon is just such a celebrity Cognac, this one involving Earl “E-40” Stevens, a longtime California rapper, record-label owner, and entrepreneur. The spirit is produced in the Cognac region of France, of course. But I cannot find reliable evidence identifying the actual distiller/négociant supplying the eaux-de-vie. Tycoon doesn’t identify the Cognac house behind the liquid, or really any other details. Continue reading “Tycoon VS Cognac”

A Note About Vintages

Although you will see vintage dates throughout Winervana, I don’t put too much importance on them. Major producers these days strive for a consistent style, and largely succeed. (Especially in California, aided by the usually even climate there.) For instance, when shopping for a particular wine, if you have a choice between a current release and one that’s a few years old, there will certainly be differences in price and the character of the wine. But upon release, those two examples of the same wine are likely to be quite similar, especially for New World producers, who often enjoy more reliably consistent weather than Old World producers do. (Of course, global climate change may disrupt things for everybody.)

Wine Enthusiast has an interesting post about this here.