Renault cognac got its name from Jean Antonin Renault, who in 1835 founded his own brand in the city of Cognac. Renault was one of the first cognac houses to bottle cognac in a glass bottle. This is said to greatly affect the quality and smoothness of the spirit. Renault is a well-known cognac brand in the Nordic countries, not least because it has been owned by the Finnish beverage giant Altia (now Anora) for around 15 years.

Renault Avec (~together) is a VS class cognac. It has gone through a special maturation process, where the cognac has been stored in heavily roasted oak barrels. This is said to also give cognac a toasty and original aroma. Avec is a blend of distillates that have been matured for 3-7 years. A 70 cl bottle cost €27.

Avec is dark brown in color, clearly darker than VS cognacs in general. The aroma has fruitiness, sweetness and a distinctly roasted and ripe aroma. The same aroma can also be felt in dark roasted coffee. The taste is very sweet at first. It resembles Larsen (also owned by Altia) in its sweetness, whose VS version is also very  sweet. After the sweetness, the taste shows roasted aroma and a slightly bitter oak note. The aroma of roasted oak is quite dominant, and the fruitiness from the aroma is not so noticeable. The aftertaste also shows some caramel and vanilla. Renault Avec is quite an original cognac. Due to its sweetness and softness, it is very easy to sip. However, the roasted coffee aroma makes it a bit one-sided and one-dimensional. I didn’t try it with coffee, but I think that because of its sweetness, Avec should work very well with a cup of coffee.

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