Cognac, named after the city of the same name in France, is rightfully considered a noble drink, and it was in the French city of Cognac that this strong liquor was created. The alcohol content in alcohol can range from 40 to 60 percent. Due to the good degree and pleasant taste, the drink gained its massive popularity among the population, which contributed to the emergence of a huge number of fakes. In order to avoid unpleasant consequences from the use of a low-quality product, you should know how to check it for authenticity.

Of course, when purchasing a drink, you rarely think about the fact that you may have a fake in front of you, you want to quickly sip the velvety liquid and feel its noble aroma. But do not forget that drinking low-quality alcohol can lead to serious consequences, and a headache with a severe hangover will be the least of your problems. To avoid this, you should follow some rules and resort to little tricks that can help you choose real alcohol.

Place of sale of real cognac

In order to minimize the risk of buying a fake drink, you should contact specialized alcohol sales points, large supermarkets with a good reputation, or buy it in duty free stores if we are talking about high-end brands. Careful selection of the place of purchase will provide you with additional opportunities when checking alcohol for originality. For example, you can demand certificates of origin of the drink and get expert advice when choosing.

Price

The price for a bottle of ordinary alcohol, the extract of which does not classify it as a premium, should be around 10-15 dollars. The price of a good drink is decent, so you should not immediately grab bottles that are priced at 25-35 percent cheaper. In most cases, you will buy low-quality liquor.

For example, a bottle of real in a specialized alcohol market costs at least $ 20 per 0.5 liter.

Appearance of the bottle

• Before you buy cognac, carefully study the packaging and design. Real alcohol of world-famous brands is poured into ordinary bottles of a classic look, without frills and pretentiousness, made of figured glass. As a rule, such containers have a corporate design that protects against counterfeiting. An example of simplicity and security can be brands of cognac and.

• The label is a very important indicator of the originality of the purchased alcohol.. It must be glued neatly, symmetrically, without damage. Paper for labels of expensive alcohol is special, when touched it resembles an old banknote. For most fakes, the label is made of cheap paper, the quality of the print is dull and smeared in color and inscriptions. The label must indicate the age and type of alcohol, country of origin, place of production and composition.
• Beyond the bottle and label attention should be paid to the. It is made from cork wood, and such a cork clogs the bottle tightly. If an empty and loose metal cap flaunts on the bottle, be sure that this is a fake.

How to check the authenticity of brandy by excise stamp

Remember that no matter how good the bottle, cap, label and the absence of an excise stamp look, this is the minus that decides the fate of your purchase. The tax stamp must always be present. It should be tightly glued, without damage.

The excise stamp must have a hologram and a barcode, the name must match the one declared on the label. The presence of the brand indicates that all taxes on this product have been paid, it has been legally imported into the territory of the state, and alcohol can also be checked officially.

Marking and exposure

One of the important factors in detecting fakes is the labeling and aging of alcohol. Counterfeiters usually rely on the inattention or lack of knowledge of the buyer. There are two types of markings: French and used by manufacturers of the CIS countries.

French labeling is regulated by the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac. For buyers of French alcohol, there is the following marking, by which you can find out about the aging of real cognac:

In France, it is forbidden by law to label drinks older than 6.5 years. The reason for this is that it is almost impossible to control the mixing and quality of such alcohol.

The classification used by manufacturers in the CIS countries is much simpler. This marking is most often found on alcohol. It distinguishes the following types:

Color and transparency

The color of real cognac varies from light amber, young varieties, to dark amber in varieties with a long aging period. There are no sediments in real alcohol, and light penetrates perfectly through it.

Liquid Consistency

In order to understand how good the product is in front of you, you can also turn the bottle upside down and watch the bubbles rise. If large ones rise first, and then small ones, then you have high-quality alcohol in front of you. But often the container is filled completely, and this method of verification becomes impossible.

Information about the composition and manufacturer

Since cognac is a natural drink, the composition should not contain any flavors, rectified alcohol or dyes. If there are any, it is best not to take it.

The best is alcohol produced in France and Armenia. This is important information, and it must be on the label. It is also worth remembering that drinks based on wine distillates are called real cognac, which are produced in only two regions: the French region of Charente, represented by the cities of Cognac, Jarnac, Segonzac and in Armenia. For example, - a real "Frenchman", produced in the Cognac region.

How to check cognac for authenticity and quality at home

At home, you can carry out simple manipulations to determine the quality and aging of real alcohol.. To do this, pour the liquid into the glass and rotate the slightly tilted glass around its axis. If the drink flows down the walls of the glass slowly and leaves behind even traces and individual drops that also linger on the walls, then you have a good quality drink.

To learn about aging, watch the marks on the glass. If they hold for 5 seconds, this is alcohol with an exposure of 5-8 years, 15 seconds - about 20 years, 20 seconds - 50 years or more.

Taste and aroma

The aroma of alcohol appears gradually. What does real cognac smell like? The smell of real alcohol is multifaceted. At first there are subtle oak notes, the aroma of tobacco and various fruits is revealed, and then chocolate with hints of vanilla. Fake does not have a variety of flavors or "gives" acetone or kerosene.

It's the same with taste. Real alcohol has a pleasant mild taste, which is revealed gradually. A fake is often burning, with an alcohol flavor.

Approaching with all responsibility the choice of this noble and popular drink, you will get real pleasure and a great mood. But remember that the immense use of even the highest quality and most expensive cognac can adversely affect your well-being. How do you choose a drink and have you come across fakes? Be sure to write about it in the comments.

The ability to understand alcoholic beverages is not a whim and is not a sign of alcoholism. Alcohol can be a great flavor addition to your favorite dishes or a pleasant conversation. In previous articles, we talked about gin and wines. Today's conversation is about cognac, a drink no less beloved than vodka.

The windows are lined with dozens of brands of the drink. How to understand this "magnificence"? How many stars should be on the label? How to distinguish good cognac from bad? There are many questions, and the main one is how to buy a cool drink for reasonable money?

From the history of cognac

The appearance of the drink is so overgrown with legends that many do not believe in reliable facts no matter what. Of course, the romantic version of a poor aristocrat who killed his unfaithful wife and lover in a fit of jealousy is good 🙂 But it has nothing to do with historical reality. The prose of life is much more trivial. Sixteenth century. War with England. Trade relations are disrupted and the wine spoils in gigantic quantities. Someone's bright head came up with the idea to distill the wine and cork it in oak barrels. A few years later, the world saw grape brandy.

HISTORICAL REFERENCE. The city of Cognac is located in New Aquitaine, the former historical region of Poitou. Grapes have been grown in these areas since the 12th century. The convenient location of the city attracted the Dutch who traded in salt. This contributed to the distribution of Poitou vineyard products not only on the French coast, but also in neighboring countries.

Under international law, cognac is a French drink. Spirits made from grapes produced in other countries and regions of France cannot be called cognac. The name left for them is grape brandy. Naturally, this applies to the rules of international trade. In our country, there is its own GOST, which determines the properties and technology of making a drink. By the way, in the Russian Empire, cognac began to be produced in the second half of the 19th century in Odessa and Yerevan.

Cognac bottle and label

Let's make one point right away. We advise you to buy cognac in specialized stores. A fake can get into an ordinary supermarket quite easily, and an alcoholic store gives an almost one hundred percent guarantee of quality. In addition, here the buyer will be able to get complete information about the drink: year of manufacture, company, country of origin, composition and other characteristics.

External paraphernalia is important when choosing a quality cognac. Here it is about the same as in the well-known proverb "they meet by clothes." That's just the "clothing" is different, and the buyer should not rush for an exquisite incredibly beautiful bottle. Do not believe it, but recognized brands produce cognac in inconspicuous, ordinary-looking bottles. Another thing is the shape of the container.

INTERESTING. The first Russian cognac factories belonged to Nikolai Shustov. He brought his products to the World Exhibition in Paris, which was held in 1900. Drinks were exhibited under the general name "cognac". The experts were amazed at the quality and awarded Shustov the first place. The entrepreneur said that he brought to the exhibition and received the right to call his products "Cognac".

A complex shape, an abundance of intricate geometry and engraving are not the desire of the manufacturer to stand out, although not without it. This is an additional line of product protection. Inspecting the bottles, pay attention to the label:

• The paper must be glued evenly;
• The label feels like paper money to the touch;
• If you run your finger, a corrugated surface is felt;
• Clear printing and colors.

It is very difficult to fake a branded bottle and label. Draw your own conclusions. Next, we are looking for an excise tax and a barcode. Install an application on your smartphone that reads the code, and you can get complete information about the drink at any time. ALWAYS read the contents of the label. On quality cognac, the information necessary for the buyer is indicated: blend, bottling date, origin and composition. The presence of additives with the letter "E" indicates the unnaturalness of the product.

cognac cork

A high-quality drink, whether ours or imported, without a difference, is produced in tightly corked bottles. No screw caps, just corks. Depending on the brand, either cork oak bark or synthetic material is used. If you buy cognac infrequently, you should know that winemakers make combined corks in the shape of the letter “T”. The lower part, located in the neck, is from the bark. The top is made of plastic, glass, ceramics and other decorative materials. Why so many difficulties, you ask. This cork is easy to open without a corkscrew. Such a cork closes as tightly as it did at the factory. Try to open the cork. If the bottle is not corked tightly, and the cork is spinning, counterfeit is in your hands.

What to look for on the label

We are accustomed to the fact that a long aging period means the best quality cognac 🙂 Connoisseurs would start an argument, but for us it is important how to determine the exposure. The “trick” is that the final product is a blend of several alcohols. Age is calculated according to the youngest. The rule is used by all manufacturers without exception.

FACT. The famous cognac "Hennessy" appeared in 1765. The ancestor of the world famous trading house was a retired officer Richard Hennessy. The first imports went to North America in 1794, Russia saw cognac in 1818, and shipments to China began in 1859.

Markers may vary. For Armenian, Georgian and Russian cognacs, it is customary to put "stars":

• Three "stars" - the age of cognac spirits is at least two years old;
• Four "stars" - at least four years;
• Five "stars" - at least five years.

Now for the brandy. For vintage wines, cognac and brandy, which are produced in France and the Russian Federation under license, they are divided into: ordinary, collection, vintage. There are no difficulties with ordinary drinks, the bottles are marked with stars. Collectible cognacs include spirits aged 23 years and older. The following markers are put on branded drinks:

• "KV" - an exposure of six years;
• "KVVK" - an excerpt from eight years;
• "KS" - exposure from ten years;
• "OS" - an exposure of twenty years.

UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE. The most expensive cognac is "Henri IV, Cognac Grande Champagne". Experts date the drink recipe to 1776. Cognac is aged for at least a hundred years. The bottles are made of 24 carat gold, and 6.5 thousand diamonds are used for decoration. The price of one bottle ranges from 1.8 to 2 million dollars.

French standards are different. In accordance with them, brandy is divided into:

• "VS" - the age of spirits from two years;
• "Superior" - spirits for three years;
• "VSOP" - alcohols are four years old;
• "VVSOP" - five-year alcohols;
• "XO" - the age of spirits from six years.

Aroma of cognac

Now let's talk about content. Try to do the following - take the bottle and turn it upside down. Look closely. In a quality product, a large drop will fall from the bottom. One. There may also be "brooks" on the walls. For bottles filled to the top, bubbles serve as indicators of quality. At what the large ones will go first, and then the small ones. Both experiments will show the viscosity and density of the drink. Counterfeit products do not have the desired viscosity and lubricity.

IMPORTANT! Natural high-quality cognac does not bite. By the way, eating lemon is a Russian tradition. According to the French, citrus fruits interrupt the aroma of cognac. It is believed that you need to drink a drink with chocolate, pate or coffee. Real cigars are also welcome. True connoisseurs advise you to drink cognac in small portions, without snacking.

Aroma is important. Just check it out at home. Correctly assessing the smell of a drink is difficult, especially for an unprepared person. In theory, new smells gradually appear in the aroma of cognac. Connoisseurs burn "notes". After the drink is poured, there is a barely noticeable smell of oak. Gradually, "notes" of fruits, tobacco, vanilla and other flavors appear. The quantity and specificity of aromas depends on the aging, the wood of the barrel. Fake does not have a rich aroma. The smell is similar, but quickly disappears.

ADVICE. Cognac connoisseurs are advised to visit the museum of the same name, located in Moscow. The exhibits will give a complete picture of the beverage production technology. Visitors can see how winegrowers worked in the 18th and 19th century. By the way, the museum is located on the territory of the KiN plant.

To summarize the rules for choosing a quality drink:

1. We buy cognac only in specialized outlets;
2. When buying, we inspect the bottle, label and cork;
3. We turn the bottle over and look at the behavior of the liquid.

Of course, these recipes do not guarantee a 100% hit, but will increase your chances.

Oh cognac! Oh, noble drink. You have conquered many people's hearts.

Do you know to whom we owe the appearance of cognac? No? Now we'll tell you everything. Sit right here and make yourself comfortable.

So the French took over. It's not the first time they've done this. Think of champagne alone. However, they have the right: they opened this drink to the world! So, just as champagne alone is produced in Champagne, so cognacs are also produced in the province of the same name - Cognac, which is located, as you might have guessed, in France.

Here is where it is:

Cognac, as you probably already know, is made from grapes. So, it is believed that it is in this area that the most ideal grape varieties for this drink. Cognac is filled with subtle, soft aromas and elegant taste. And, they say, in no other country, and even in no other region, such grapes simply cannot be grown.

But even here the French did not stop, and this region is divided into small areas, each of which fulfills its own special requirements for the production of cognacs. Perhaps we will not go into this in detail, because all this is terribly boring and meticulous. We are not here for this.

So, after the invention of this wonderful drink, the French did the following: they secured the name for themselves. Yes, exactly the name, since the technology for preparing such a drink is used in many countries of the world. But they have to call it differently: armagnac, brandy, vignac.

You are probably already impatient to find out, but what about the Armenian cognac? And our, Russian, Dagestan? Tore off the tongue, right? Here the situation is as follows: once the French were outraged about this (by the way, it was also with champagne), but somehow we managed to agree with them that we have the right to sell our drinks on the domestic market under the name “cognac”.

Why we insisted on this so much is not known for certain: whether it is easier to perceive the “world” names, or whether we were too lazy to come up with another name.

And you can always buy French cognac or Armenian cognac in the WineStreet store. You still need to find out - which of them is more cognac!

Other articles from the rubric "Alcohol Encyclopedia"

The history of Chartreuse liquor is full of secrets and mysteries. Someone connects the appearance of the drink with the monastic order, while others argue that the liquor was the fruit of the experiments of herbalists. Nevertheless, today we can all enjoy the amazing taste of this strong alcohol, created on the basis of medicinal collections.

Grappa is a traditional Italian drink that is often compared to the more familiar chacha. But it is worth knowing that although these drinks are somewhat similar in their preparation methods, the real Italian grappa is still a little softer, without an unpleasant overly alcohol aftertaste. You will now bet that there is an excellent chacha that your / your friend's grandfather makes! Well, we admit it happens, but we are now talking about grappa.

Have you ever wanted to feel like a real taster, to describe the wine as beautifully as in wine catalogs? Admit it, you wanted to! Everyone can distinguish white wine from red. Even a complete layman. And being branded as a wine gourmet is a very good prospect (let us ask you not to confuse it with a “wine alcoholic”).

For me, there were 2 discoveries there: firstly, it is now fashionable to drink cognac with a diluted tonic, and, secondly, the usual pot-bellied cognac glasses are a thing of the past ...

To realize how close everything is in Cognac to each other, I am posting this photo. It was taken from the balcony of the Valois castle, in which the Otard cognac house is located, and just behind the Hennessy is the Martel building:

A drink called Cognac can only be produced in the region of the same name, which is divided into 6 regions. The grapes grown in each of them differ in properties and taste.

The cognac that we buy in the store usually consists of several types of cognac of different aging and from different areas. The coolest areas are Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne and Borderies. The word Champagne (Champagne) means limestone and is not related to the Champagne region, which produces French champagne:

In one of the cognac houses in the museum, there are soil samples from some regions. They differ even visually. For example, cognac made from grapes harvested in Grande Champagne has a light, delicate aroma with dominant floral tones:

The soils of the Borderies contain a high percentage of clay and silicon. From local vines they produce beautiful round and soft cognacs with pronounced tones of violets:

The main white grape variety from which cognac is produced is uni blanc, a slow-ripening variety with high acidity, high yield and disease resistance:

Immediately after harvesting, the grape juice is pressed. The juice is very sweet.

The process of wine distillation takes place in the traditional "Charentes alembic", which consists of an extraction boiler heated on an open fire (on the right), an onion-shaped boiler cap and a tube curved in the form of a "swan's neck", which then transforms into a coil passing through cooler:

Wine is heated in a cauldron. Ethyl alcohol has a lower boiling point than water and is the first to evaporate through the swan neck. Then it enters the cooler, where it condenses, and again turns into a liquid, and the water remaining in the boiler is drained:

The wine is distilled twice. The first time the degree of liquid rises to 27-32%, and during the second distillation to 68-72%. The clear liquid obtained after the second distillation is called cognac spirit and is further aged in oak barrels:

During the first years of aging, the properties of brandy alcohol change. It becomes darker in color, softer and rounder. In the aroma and taste, many shades appear, including notes of flowers, fruits and spices. During tastings, you can smell and, if you wish, try different stages of cognac "readiness":

Here you can clearly see how the color of cognac changes, depending on the exposure - cognac alcohol on the right, cognac with 6 years of aging on the left:

During aging, cognac spirit draws tannins, lignin and vanillin from the walls of the barrel:

Cognac barrels are made from French oak, at least 80 years old. Oak, as a material for the manufacture of barrels, was chosen due to its strength, fine-grained structure (that is, the wine will evaporate less through its pores) and high extractive qualities.

We visited the production of barrels, and I will write a separate post about this:

During the aging process, a significant part of the cognac evaporates through the pores of the tree (in France it is called part des anges - the share of angels), so there is a strong alcoholic spirit in all cellars. Approximately 3% of the liquid evaporates per year:

During tastings, cognac is taken directly from the barrel and poured into glasses:

The maximum cognac is aged in barrels for up to 70 years. After that, its character and properties practically do not change and, in order to prevent its further evaporation, it is poured into glass bottles, the so-called "ladies":

The properties of cognac in glass no longer change, and it can be stored like this for decades:

At the same time, the age of cognac is determined not by the year when it was poured into the barrel, but by the number of years of aging. That is, this cognac of 1893 is still considered 70 years old, since it was aged in a barrel for 70 years:

In most cases, cognac is obtained by assembling (mixing) cognac spirits of different aging years. At the same time, the exposure of the final product is determined by the minimum exposure time of the components. In the mass production of cognac, assembling allows you to maintain its same organoleptic properties, regardless of the quality of the grape harvest:

Cognac is mixed in large vats, and then bottled:

Cognacs are distinguished by age. There is a designation system on bottle labels:

* V.S. - at least 2 years
* V.S.O.P. - at least 4 years
*X.O. - at least 6 years

Cognac is tasted in the same way as the rest of the alcohol. They go down the face from top to bottom eye-nose-mouth, that is, first they look, then they sniff, and then they try.

In order to fully enjoy the skate, follow these simple rules:

* Pour 30 milliliters of cognac into a tulip glass
* Hold it by the leg or base (like the photo below)
* Cognac must be at room temperature

Visual inspection:

* Raise your glass just above eye level. Look carefully at the color and its shades. A good cognac will glow with brown hues.

* Gently shake the glass and wash its walls with cognac. Look at the "tears" that flow down the walls - the slower they flow, the older the cognac

The next stage is the so-called cognac nose - the definition of its aroma. This procedure is divided into 3 parts - 3 noses:

* 1st nose: Bring the glass to your nose without shaking the cognac. Your nose should be in the center of the glass a few inches away from it. Experience the lightest floral scents. In general, the aromas of cognac are divided into floral, fruity, chocolate, woody, tobacco and earthy.

* 2nd nose: Bring the glass a little closer to the nose, to the level of the rim. Slightly shake the liquid. Feel the more complex tones of the aroma: many fruit tones, pears, apples, shades of exotic fruits and dried fruits.

* 3rd nose: Dip your nose straight into the glass and try to smell the heaviest flavors - chocolate, woody and tobacco

Tasting:

* In our mouth, taste buds are located in different places, for example, we feel sweet with the tip of the tongue, sour and salty at the edges of the tongue, and bitter at the base. To fully reveal the taste of cognac, take a small sip and then draw some air into your mouth.

* Roll brandy all over your mouth.

* In the taste of cognac, softness and flavor modulations are appreciated, when the aroma is constantly evolving and changing shades and semitones.

* The longer the aftertaste lasts, the better the cognac and the higher its class.

Whiskey consumption has been growing rapidly in the world in recent years. Young people have tasted it and drink a huge number of cocktails based on it. This haunts cognac producers. They even started producing various cognac-based liqueurs that are consumed chilled:

Another example is Canadian cider, which is produced by the House of Camus:

But the biggest surprise for me was that the French, in order to increase sales, changed all their principles. Now it is not necessary to drink cognac at room temperature and in its pure form. In all cognac houses where we visited, we were offered cognac-based cocktails:

The idea is to offer the market cocktails with higher quality alcohol than whiskey, so they began to actively mix cognac with tonic and, moreover, add lemon to it, which was previously considered a complete bad manners by the French themselves:

Cognac itself can also now be served frozen to the table:

The National Interprofessional Bureau of Cognac, which invited me on this trip, is actively promoting the Summit cognac-based cocktail, which includes:

Lime quarter
- 4 thin slices of ginger
- a long piece of cucumber peel
- 60 milliliters of cognac
- 120 ml lemonade
- 4-5 ice cubes

Until recently, a "snifter" or a spherical glass, narrowed upwards, with a large bowl and a short stem, was considered a traditional cognac glass. This glass was held in the palm of the hand, warming the cognac with its warmth, rotating the cognac along the walls of the bowl and enjoying its aromas, plunging the nose into the glass.

Now everything has changed, and now the more traditional glass is considered to be a "tulip" or a glass with a bowl in the shape of a closed tulip bud on a high stem. This glass is held by the stem or base, like a wine glass, the cognac is rotated along the walls of the bowl, allowing it to actively “breathe” oxygen, and enjoy the aromas of cognac through the narrow “exit” of the glass:

Read our community also on VKontakte, where there is a huge selection of videos on the topic "how it's done" and on Facebook.

Not so long ago I talked about how to choose the right caviar and champagne. And now, at the request of my readers, it is the turn to talk about how to buy quality cognac or brandy, which is essentially the same thing. The name brandy is used mainly by European producers, because. there, according to the law, only a drink made in the province of the same name can be called cognac.

It's no secret that a good cognac should cost at least 200 rubles per 0.5 liter. But in this case, we run the risk of running into a fake. So how to choose and then buy this noble drink, what to pay attention to so as not to spoil your holiday?

How to buyquality cognac?

1. Bottle shape. It is better to choose non-standard ones. The more complex shape of the bottle indicates that the manufacturer is concerned about protecting its product from counterfeiting. Therefore, the more complex and original the shape of the bottle, the more likely it is to buy good cognac.

2. We look at how the label is glued. Exactly, therefore, the product is of high quality. All irregularities, folds, traces of glue, corners lagging behind the glass are signs of a poor-quality product. You should not buy cognac if the label is pasted over the excise stamp. It is important to remember: the excise stamp is glued last and only the excise stamp can get on the label, but not vice versa.

3. Check the cap. It should not rotate on a well-made cognac. At the factory, cognac is corked automatically. The cork sits evenly and firmly. Try to twist: if the cap is spinning, then you should not buy such cognac.

4. Here we checked the bottle for external signs. Now we read on the label what's inside. If ethyl grain rectified or extra is written, then this, in fact, is colored vodka. In real brandy (cognac) there must be cognac alcohol. Also, in real brandy or cognac there should be no flavorings. In addition, the following information is written on the label: the name of the cognac, the name of the company and the manufacturer (on the front and back), the capacity of the bottle, the volume fraction (%) of alcohol, the age of cognac spirits (for cognacs of special names and brands), the designation of the standard (GOST 13741 – 91), spill date. By the way, the warranty period for bottled cognacs from the date of bottling is 2 years. However, if after this time no sediment and turbidity appear in the bottle, then the cognac is suitable for further storage and consumption. An additional label with the indication "Collection" is glued on a bottle with collection cognac. Optional: "Aged in the collection _ years."

And in conclusion: no matter how hard we try to choose the right products, unfortunately, unscrupulous manufacturers come up with more and more ways to deceive us. To finally make sure of the quality of the purchased brandy, you can do the following: when the bottle is open, pour the brandy into a glass and let it breathe a little. After 3 - 5 minutes, smell your drink: if, along with the smell of alcohol, you do not catch notes of solvent or kerosene, then you have chosen a good one. quality cognac. I'm glad my advice helped you. And if this is true, then share this article with others. 🙂 And please, express your opinion in the comments. Enjoy the shopping. 🙂