Brandy

Where it started

The name is Dutch. Merchants trading on the Charente in the 16th century distilled the region's thin wines to keep them sound on the voyage north and called the result brandwijn, burnt wine, which became "brandy."⁴ Gascony makes an older claim for its own eau-de-vie: the Armagnac trade body cites a 1310 text by Vital Dufour, prior of Eauze, as the first evidence of its use.¹¹ The English age codes on so many labels, VS, VSOP and XO, are a leftover of that trade: the Armagnac trade body traces them to 18th-century Anglo-Saxon merchants who owned Cognac houses.¹⁰

Where and how it's made

In the United States, brandy is any spirit distilled from the fermented juice, mash or wine of fruit, or its residue, at less than 190 proof, and bottled at not less than 80 proof.¹ Unqualified, the word "brandy" on a U.S. label means grape brandy; anything else has to name its fruit, as in "peach brandy."¹ Grape brandy stored in oak for less than two years has to be called "immature brandy,"¹ and immature brandies are exempt from the federal rule that requires an age statement on young brandy.² Federal rules also name foreign types, Cognac, Armagnac, Brandy de Jerez, Calvados, Pisco from Peru or Chile, and Singani from Bolivia, each of which must be made in its home country under that country's own law.¹ Distill any brandy above 170 proof and it becomes "neutral brandy."¹

Europe splits the same ground into several categories. Wine spirit is distilled from wine at less than 86 percent alcohol and bottled at at least 37.5 percent.³ Brandy, or Weinbrand, is wine spirit aged at least one year in oak receptacles of 1,000 liters or more, or six months in casks smaller than that, and bottled at a minimum of 36 percent.³ Grape marc spirit, fruit spirit, and cider and perry spirit each have their own rules.³

Every style uses the same two choices. A pot still works in batches and is often run twice, as in Cognac; a column still runs continuously, as in most Armagnac.⁹ Then comes wood, or no wood: Cognac must spend at least two years in oak, while Blanche Armagnac skips wood entirely.⁹

How to taste it

Use a tulip glass; Cognac's own guidance favors it because its slightly closed shape locks the aromas in.⁷ Nose it before you swirl, then again after. Young brandies read as fresh fruit and flowers; long-aged ones move toward dried fruit, spice and the savory note called rancio. Brandy de Jerez's regulator gives two serving temperatures: 10 to 15 °C in its serving guide⁵ and 17 to 18 °C, from a hand-warmed balloon, in its FAQ.⁶ Both pages advise against heating the glass.⁵⁶ Pairings: aged Cheddar or a blue cheese, dark chocolate, a tarte Tatin.