Arcoroc Degustation

Size says nothing about the pour here. In a 41 cl balloon you pour three to four centilitres, no more: the rest of the volume is there for the vapour. Fill it higher and the liquid sits above the widest point, so the shape stops doing its work. The 15 cl glass takes two to three centilitres, which makes it the logical choice when you taste four or five samples in a row.

Pay attention to the stem as well. A short stem lets you cup the bowl in your palm and warm the cognac, which opens up the heavier aromas in older vintages. If you would rather not warm it, hold the glass by the foot.

Pour, then let the glass stand for a minute before you smell it. The first vapour off a freshly poured cognac is mostly alcohol and numbs the nose; smell too soon and you will taste less afterwards. Then tilt the glass slowly and let the spirit run back down the wall, so you see the legs form and the surface area grows.

Smell with your mouth slightly open, so the alcohol does not linger in your nose. At a tasting, line the small glasses up from light to heavy. If you want to use the bottle in a cocktail, the sidecar and the brandy alexander are the classics to start with.

Degustation is made from tempered soda-lime glass, the material Arcoroc uses throughout its hospitality range because it takes more knocks than untempered glass. The glasses are dishwasher safe; stand them upright in a rack so the bowls do not touch. When you dry them off, hold the glass by the bowl rather than the foot, because the stem is where twisting causes most breakages.

If you are looking for a glass built around one particular drink, the cognac glasses and the whiskey glasses are grouped separately. For small measures of spirits the shot glasses are an alternative, and for liqueur after dinner the liqueur glasses. The rest of the French hospitality range is at Arcoroc, where the wine, beer and cocktail series all sit side by side.