I don’t know when it happened. I think it must have been about 5 years ago–somewhere in that area. And I don’t know why it happened–it just did.

Rum is no longer my favorite liquor.

There, I said it. Whew. That was easier than I thought.

Rum and I had a long and lovely relationship. Captain Morgan Private Reserve was my go-to rum for years. And I could be counted on to bring a bottle to ever camping trip. But I’ve moved on.

I dabbled in whiskey and bourbon. I even drank some rye.

Then, two years ago, I gave up eating grains. And with it I gave up grain alcohols. So I experimented with some tequila.

And then I discovered cognac.

Ah, cognac. Sweet nectar of the gods. Lovely, beautiful, tasty cognac.

So for about the last six months I’ve been exploring cognac. There are four, major, and easily found brands in the US. Those are: Martell, Courvoisier, Hennessey, and Remy Martin. I’ve tried a number of different cognacs that I found at BevMo, but nothing outstanding and/or memorable.

Cognac seems to agree with me. It doesn’t upset my stomach the way a grain alcohol does. And cognac does not give me the wicked hangovers that rum brought me. No, cognac is a fine drink that makes me feel great.

Already this year I’ve gone on four camping trips, and for each camping trip I brought some cognac to warm by the fire, which was outstanding. One of my favorite things to do with a bottle of rum was place it in the campfire ring–a lovely warm swig of liquor makes for an excellent after-dinner drink while enjoying the great outdoors. And cognac is absolutely wonderful when enjoyed at a warmer temperature. It seems, at least to me, that cognac is the perfect campfire drink.

Remy Martin VSOP is my favorite. I can find it just about everywhere, and at a price that I can afford. Sure it costs more than twice the price of a similar bottle of rum.

But to me, it’s worth it.