Somewhere in the back of my creaky mind, is the notion that Talleyrand, that chemeleon and master of French politics, who managed to survive (nay, THRIVE) in the political foment from the reign of Louis XVI through the French Revolution and on even beyond Napoleon's regime, loved Cognac and had some opinions on how best to enjoy it (let the glass warm in the hand before even nosing it). Talleyrand was born in 1751 and died in 1838.
That, if memory serves me correctly in regard to Talleyrand, places Cognac Brandy well within the 18th century, or, at its latest, in the early 19th century.