But in the short term the only bright spots were America and in France, where a campaign to promote cognac as a long drink (with tonic, which is not, unlike soda water or ginger ale, really a natural accompaniment) raised sales for the second year running.

ECONOMIST: Spirits

Jean Monnet, a brandy merchant from Cognac, in southern France, and Robert Schuman, the French foreign minister, a lawyer from the disputed region near the French-West German border, worked together on the "Schuman Plan, " which Schuman proposed on May 9, 1950.

FORBES: Magazine Article

But then he does something unique in the world: While the rums start in the traditional fashion, produced in local distilleries and barrel-aged in the tropical sun, they are plucked from their country of origin at just the right moment and brought to the Ferrand estate in France, where they are refined for several more months in small French oak Ferrand cognac barrels.

FORBES: Today is National Rum Day: Try Some Really Old Rum