For most of the mid – to late Aughts, cognac producers concentrated their marketing dollars on China’s ballooning middle class. But with a greater emphasis on personal austerity—along with a new suite of anticorruption laws—killing demand for high-end gifts there, those producers are turning to the U.S., where we can’t seem to consume enough brown spirits: There were 4.7 million cases of cognac sold here in 2015, and that number is expected to reach 5 million this year. Some bottles can get pricey, but don’t let that deter you from gifting an option not so insanely expensive—a little austerity certainly can’t hurt.
by Jim Clarke
BloombergBusinessweek
