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.
Tycoon appears to have been launched around 2020–21 as part of Stevens’s expanding drinks portfolio. By 2022, contemporary coverage described it as a luxury Cognac line, with the blends hand-selected by Stevens himself, consisting of VS and VSOP expressions.
Stevens has described Tycoon as something he developed rather than merely endorsed. He had previously been associated with Landy Cognac, but specifically distinguished that arrangement—where he was effectively a paid brand representative—from his later ownership of Earl Stevens Selections and his own beverage brands. These include Tycoon Cognac, E. Cuarenta Tequila, Tycoon Vodka, Kuiper Belt Bourbon, Kuiper Belt Gin, Sluricane prepared cocktails, and E. Cuarenta beer. A fairly impressive lineup.
Stevens says he was using “tycoon” in his rap vocabulary back in the 1990s, eventually trademarked it, and thought it would be perfect as a Cognac brand.
Tycoon VS Cognac
This mysterious brandy is a nice medium-dark amber in the glass. The restrained nose offers whiffs of apricot and vanilla. These continue on the rounded palate, plus some cocoa and warm spices. Nutmeg and black pepper become increasingly noticeable toward the medium-long finish. My advice is to ignore the celebrity association and enjoy this for what it is: a perfectly solid VS Cognac. The ABV is the usual 40%.
Listen to my podcast about brandy, Cognac, and Armagnac here.
A note about brandy vs. Cognac: brandy is a liquor distilled from wine and aged in wood. (Brandy can be made from fruits other than grapes as well, but that’s a story for another time.) Cognac is brandy that specifically comes from the town of Cognac and the delimited surrounding areas in western France. (The one which has the most favorable soil and geographical conditions is Grande Champagne.) So, all Cognacs are brandy, but not all brandies are Cognac. For more detail on brandy and Cognac, click here.
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