Cognac

Intensely winey and fruity like green apple, yet oily and fatty, threaded with a green, herbaceous and slightly bready dryness.

• Despite its name, cognac oil is not made from cognac but steam-distilled from wine lees, the sediment left behind after the wine has fermented. Its scent therefore comes partly from the grapes and partly from the yeast itself.

Most of the oil consists of fatty acid ethyl esters formed during fermentation, chiefly ethyl octanoate and ethyl decanoate. These esters account for the fruity, winey character that is also found in cognac itself.