Cognac makers ramp up efforts to boost US sales

Cognac, France

FRANCE'S centuries-old cognac houses are raising their bets on the US market with new products and campaigns to broaden the drink's appeal beyond its African-American stronghold.

The big four producers - LVMH Moet Hennessy, Remy Cointreau, Pernod Ricard and Beam Suntory - have turned more of their attention to the US following a drop in sales in China after an anti-graft campaign.

On its home turf, cognac is seen as the drink of choice for mature gentlemen but in the United States it is often enjoyed by status-conscious revellers inspired by blingy bottles and hip-hop name-dropping songs like Busta Rhymes' Pass the Courvoisier.

Black culture's taste for cognac, which only comes from the area around the western French town of that name, dates back at least to the time when US soldiers were visiting jazz-mad Paris bars during the world wars. Back home, it was an alternative to American whiskey, often made in the southern sta…