"Very Special One-Time Performance", meant to be a tribute (circa 1978) to Miles Davis, featuring his famous 60's quintet (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams, with Freddie Hubbard in place of the ailing and jazz-hating Miles) and repertoire; they found a receptive audience, and it lasted a little longer - there was even a later "VSOP II" with a Marsalis Brothers front-line. Also the title of an old Louis Armstrong compilation ("Very Special Old Phonography").

When used in describing brandy or cognac, VSOP stands for "Very Superior Old Pale." Indicates a tasty, strong (and likely bloody expensive) cordial.



props to bigmouth_strikes for pointing out to me that the S stands for Superior, not Special as I originally thought.

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