Below is a list of terms used in France when describing different taste sensations (Source: Bruno Sepulchre: Le Livre du Cognac.)

Franse term	English meaning	pos/neg	Explanation
Accoutumance	habituation	neg	habit of intemperance through which habituation occurs and distinctiveness disappears. According to Maurice Raguenaud, the ‘accoutumance' is a supposedly good small wine or a top shelf cognac (best quality), which in reality is downright undrinkable, and whose only purpose would be to leave it on the top shelf.
Acroleïne	an unsaturated aldehyde	neg	new disease of eau-de-vie that gives it a very unpleasant bitter smell and taste.
Amertume	bitter taste	neg	fault due to poor maturation (excess tannin).
Acescence	vinegar flavour	neg	sting caused by acetic acid, which gives a taste and smell of vinegar to ‘the eau-de-vie'.
Astringence	astringent	neg	sharpness caused by ageing (excess tannin).
Boisée	woody	pos/neg	quality of the eau-de-vie, within reasonable limits, when it is taken from the wood of the cask containing it.
Bouquet	Bouquet	pos	a fundamental quality of cognac. In general, it is said that the bouquet is the result of fragrance and aroma. So it is that perfume that gives each eau-de-vie its personal character. It is refined, elegant and powerful in champagnes, firmer in borderies and even more so in bois.
Charpentée	solidly built	pos	a quality of eau-de-vie, see ’corps'.
Chien mouillé	wet dog	neg	is said of a too-young brandy whose bad taste evokes the smell of a wet dog.
Corps	solidity	pos	an important description of a eau-de-vie. An eau-de-vie has ‘corps’ when it has a soul (‘âme’), consistency, when it rolls gently and anointingly under the tongue, and not dry and flat. Together with the bouquet, these are the two main characteristics of eau-de-vie, which is defined mainly by their possible shortcomings in these two areas.
Courte	short	neg	is said of an eau-de-vie with a short finish; flavour that does not last long.
Légère	light	neg	Feature: light in flavour.
Longueur	Length, long	pos	an eau-de-vie that possesses length is an eau-de-vie whose bouquet and smoothness linger long in the mouth and nose. This persistence of flavours is an important feature.
Machée (goût de)	chewy taste	neg	is said of a very special flavour of eau-de-vie that revolves around its maturation (fourth stage) and that has not yet taken on its flavour of wood. 'Transient disease'.
"Marie Suzon"	"Marie Suzon"	neg	a term used for an eau-de-vie with neither quality nor defect and which, following Marie Suzon from George Brassens' song, has “neither tits nor ass”. On this, it is amusing to note that in the passionate story of a taster of eau-de-vie, most of the comparisons evoke the female element.
Moelleux	full	pos	a property acquired during the maturation process that gives the palate an impression of warmth, less intense than that experienced when tasting a new eau-de-vie. An excess of softness indicates an overly intense eau-de-vie.
Moisi	mouldy, musty	neg	taste caused by poor winemaking.
Molle	weak	neg	a weak eau-de-vie has matured in a too-humid storage area, where ageing is accelerated with the risk of denaturalisation (becoming unfit for consumption).
Montant	rising, high	pos	when the odours persist well (proche d'ârome; proximity to aroma).
Pétrole (goût de)	flavour of petroleum	neg	also called goût d'huile (taste of oil): unpleasant impressions resulting from poor winemaking.
Raisin frais (odeûr de)	smell of fresh grapes	pos	certain fragrant quality of some eaux-de-vie.
Rance	rancid	neg	special flavour of cognac that occurs during the maturation process (10-35 years) and is reminiscent of rancid notes. This impression is caused by the formation of methyl acetones.
Rancio	rancio	pos	very important characteristic of old cognacs, reminiscent of the smell of mushrooms, of age in the good sense of the word.
Rassise	matured, ripe	pos	this is said of a cask aged eau-de-vie (this is a quality).
Rimé	Looks like nothing, doesn't make sense	neg	bad kitchen smell due to sediment (lees) that has stuck to the bottom of the boiler (cucurbite).
Rondeur	roundness	pos	flavour quality of the eau-de-vie.
Sarments secs (odeur de)	smell of dry vineyard vines	pos	odour quality of some eaux-de-vie.
Seconde (odeur de)	smell of 'secondes' (between the heart and the tails of the second distillation)	neg	desitillation fault that gives a soapy flavour and heaviness to cognac while masking its bouquet. The taste of aftertaste leaves an unpleasant taste sensation.
Soufrée	sulphur odour	neg	odour resulting from late treatment in the vineyard or created by adding bisulphite to the wine.
Tannin (exces de)	Excess of tannin	neg	too long maturation in too young cask. This use makes the eau-de-vie undrinkable due to bitterness and astringency. The reverse makes a cognac too soft.
Tête (exces de)	Excess of heads	neg	bitter and very unpleasant coarse flavour, resulting from a poor distillation in which too much eau-de-vie was added from pre-run (heads, at the beginning of the second round of distillation).
Terroir (goût de)	taste of earth	neg	contrary to what one might think, this is a defect, which is mainly present in eaux-de-vie from the ‘Bons Bois’ and ‘Bois Ordinaires’ (coarse and tart flavour).
Tilleul séché (odeur de)	fragrance of dried lime blossom	pos	quality that you can especially notice in eaux-de-vie from Bouteville.
Vanille (goût de)	vanilla flavour	pos	quality that emerges after five to 10 years of maturation.
Verte	immature	neg	often the result of grapes not being ripe at harvest time. The harvester could add to this risk.
Vinasses (odeur de)	smell of bad wine	neg	sensation due to an error in distillatio
Violente	violent	neg	eau-de-vie that has been aged in too dry a warehouse.
Violette	violet	pos	quality produced by ketones often found in Borderies wines.