Originally Posted by
TMOliver
....God does permit, for older gents, the occasional "Brandy & Soda", a decent Cognac or merited Spanish Brandy (Domeq's Fundador at the bottom, hopefully chosen from higher on the brandy tree, Carlo I used to be pretty good) in a heavy cut crystal "rocks" glass, no ice, but a squirt of chilled soda from the siphon. We brought back a new set of glasses from Prague last year, and the deeply incised facets give the brandy more colors than the church windows of Prague.
Back when IB had F I was exposed to some very fine Spanish brandies (which were served by IB in F but are no longer served as IB only has J service). It was a real eye opener, quite different from "real" cognac, but every bit as good. More sunny and fruity, yet with depth and finesse. Cardinal Mendoza was one of these exquisite brandies; thank you IB for exposing me to this taste sensation!