Brandy

The word brandy comes from brandewijn, the Dutch for "burnt wine," which is pretty much what brandy is: a wine distilled into a high-alcohol spirit. Brandy can be made anywhere in the world, but as ever it's France which has the most famous examples. I've written about Cognac before, so here I'll focus on the other famous French brandy, Armagnac, as well as Spanish brandy.

Armagnac

One of the central reasons for the success of Cognac over the centuries is trade. Cognac is just north of Bordeaux, with easy access to the international trade routes that the port has historically provided, particularly to important spirits markets such as England/UK and the Netherlands. Although also in the south west of France, Armagnac is located further inland with no easy access to a major port and has therefore never had the commercial success of Cognac - though it hasn't suffered the boom and bust cycles of that region either. 

Besides location and reputation, there are other significant differences between the two styles of brandy:

grapes as with Cognac, the most important grape is Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano in Italy), which produces a wine with neutral aromas and high acidity. In Cognac, it accounts for 98% of plantings, but in Armagnac it's lower, at 55%. 32% of plantings are of Baco, the only hybrid grape allowed in the production of quality wine in the EU (a hybrid grape is a cross between a variety of the European vitis vinifera, in this case Folle Blanche, and a North American vine species, in this case vitis riparia), which gives rich, earthy, dried fruit characteristics to the spirit. Ten grape varieties are permitted, but the other two important ones are Colombard and Folle Blanche, an aromatic variety which was badly hit by phylloxera in the nineteenth century.

taste Armagnac is a much more rustic, earthy drink than Cognac. A unique still, called the alambic Armagnaçais, is used, a type of column still which produces a relatively low alcohol spirit (often less than 60%). Distilling to such a low volume of alcohol, as well as using more aromatic grape varieties, means that the aromas and flavours of Armagnac are much more powerful and aggressive than Cognac. I prefer the robust, agricultural taste of Armagnac, but it all depends on personal preference, as well as the time and occasion.

ageing the terms are very close to Cognac, but with slightly different definitions. Although this provides a point of difference between the two, I don't think it's very helpful, leading to confusion as well as abuse by lesser brandies not subject to regional regulation. The ages refer to the youngest wine in the blend. 

Blanche unaged (a category introduced in 2005)

VS/*** one year

VSOP four years

Napoléon six years

hors d'age/XO ten years 

age indicated the youngest spirit is the age stated on the label (e.g. twelve years)

vintage this is a huge difference from Cognac, which (more or less) doesn't allow vintages. For a market that likes to see a year on the label, this is a huge advantage Armagnac has over Cognac. 

Diploma tasting

At the end of the spirits tasting, we all got a number on a piece of paper, which denoted which spirit we'd get to take home. I was 19 out of 26, so I was delighted to walk away with this Armagnac.

Bas Armagnac Dartigalongue VSOP 
A lovely soft toffee fudge nose, floral and fruity too, like chocolate strawberry sweets; on the palate, the alcohol is warming at first but smooth, with a minty, caramel, chocolate mouthfeel, with coffee and toffee and a peppery spiciness to it from the well-integrated oak. A very good, complex, but accessible brandy.

if you buy Armagnac, make sure it's from Bas Armagnac

"French brandy": warning!

During the brandy tasting, we sampled ASDA's French Brandy, a dreadful, barely drinkable spirit. Not only that, its labelling was extremely disingenuous, using Cognac and Armagnac terms to its advantage. On their website, below the product listing, ASDA claim that they "do everything we can to make sure the information about the products we sell is always as accurate as possible," but that "we recommend that you always read the label carefully before using or consuming any products." Well, quite. The label has VSOP in large letters, *** at the bottom, and the word Napoléon at the top: three entirely different ageing terms to impress the unsuspecting customer. It's easy to get frustrated by the French appellation system, but it's there for a reason: to protect quality wine areas. In this instance, though, only Cognac and Armagnac are subject to appellation regulations, meaning that unscrupulous producers in the rest of France (or British supermarkets) can use the terms however they want.

Spanish brandy

Spanish brandy is a widely-produced drink without any great reputation, yet its slight sweetness and sherry flavours can make it a very flavoursome and surprisingly complex brandy. The main grape is Airén, which until recently was the most planted grape in the world, grown in La Mancha in the heart of Spain where the wine is usually distilled too. The grape is lower in acidity and higher in alcohol than the French brandy grapes. The two main areas for actual brandy production are Penedès in Catalunya and Jerez in Andalucia; the latter is the only Spanish brandy controlled by law.

Brandy de Jerez is aged in the same way as sherry, using the solera system, which means that spirits of different ages are continually being blended together to create a consistent taste year after year. This ageing system, together with the blending of high- and low-alcohol spirits from distillation, gives a Spanish producer a variety of options for the style of brandy. Further complexity comes from ageing in old sherry barrels, the previous sherry contents imparting flavour rather than the oak: grilled nuts from a fino barrel, walnut, plum, and figs from an oloroso barrel, and raisins from Pedro Ximénez.

Diploma tasting

Sobreano Solera Reserva Brandy de Jerez
The one Spanish brandy we tasted was very good and represented excellent value, especially compared to ASDA's own French Brandy. For a price little different, this had all the complexity of a brandy one should expect, with figs, raisins, sultanas, hazelnuts, and coconuts.

At the higher ender of the scale, I'd recommend Lepanto, also from Gonzalez Byass, or Lustau, another brandy from a great sherry company.

 

Pisco

I've never tasted pisco and it wasn't touched on during our Diploma tasting, but it's something we need to know about. There are two types of pisco, Chilean and Peruvian, both claiming to be the more authentic. The major differences are the grape varieties allowed, the distilled level of alcohol (much lower in Peruvian), and ageing in oak (none for Peruvian, at least 60 days for Chilean). I've never heard good things about pisco, but I'm open-minded about all these drinks...

Cognac tasting

Recently at hangingditch, Alex Johnson of Eaux de Vie, UK spirits suppliers, gave us a Cognac tasting. It was fascinating to taste a range of Cognacs, learning about the different styles and characteristics of different producers, as well as how the price of such a branded product can be so misleading: just because something is very expensive doesn't mean it's any good.

Some facts

All brandy is a spirit distilled from grapes; Cognac is generally made from Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano in Italy), which, for the production of wine, is a ubiquituous but fairly forgettable grape. For brandy, this makes it ideal: its high acidity produces esters which means lots of aromatic compounds. Likewise, the low alcohol wine produced allows concentrated aromas to come through in the distillation process.

The soils of Cognac are similar to Champagne, which is why Cognac's two most important areas have easily confused names: Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne. The chalky soils have good drainage, making the grapes work hard, but there are differences between the areas. Grande Champagne is uniformly Campanian limestone, producing Cognacs that are elegant and delicate, with flavours of orange blossom when young and orange rind when more mature. Petite Champagne, which surrounds its more prestigious neighbour, has wines that are elegant but robust, with darker, richer fruits: the limestone here is Santonian. Of the other areas, it's Fin Bois that has the most significance: the soils are not uniform, but where they are chalky, Cognac as exceptional as those of the two Champagnes can be produced.

Oak is all important, with a variety of age to the oak used. Some new oak is used to provide flavours, but they cannot dominate, so after 3-6 months the wine will be transferred to old oak barrels, which allows in air and the spirit to evaporate. Humidity in the cellar is crucial: a wet cellar means alcohol evaporates, resulting in a gentler wine; a dry cellar means water evaporates, resulting in an austerer wine. To add to the complexity, Cognac is nearly always a blend of different vintages.

There are some basic terms that indicate the age of a Cognac, though quality Cognacs will always have been aged much longer:
VS - has to have been aged for at least two years
VSOP - has to have been aged for at least four years
XO - has to have been aged for at least six years

What we tasted

Le Reviseur VS (£35) - a single estate Cognac from Petite Champagne, with an average age of 8 years (but ranging from 4-20 years); lots of dried fruits, with a floral nose; nutty, salty, and spicy, but with a shortish finish.

Leyrat VSOP (£55) - single estate from Fins Bois. The estate is on gentle slopes, benefitting from sunshine trapped by surrounding hills. The wine, a beautiful pale colour despite its age (less time in new oak), was elegant and delicate, with poached pears and peaches and sweet spices. The XO, aged for around 30 years, had more dried fruits, with a long spicy finish.
 
Maxime Trijol XO (£120) - a small output which is funded by making Cognac for Rémy-Martin, one of the four giant operations. The Grande Champagne XO had depth, complexity, and elegance, with dried fruits, and an oily, oxidised, rancio quality reminiscent of old cheese.

Ragnaud Sabourin Fontvieille No.35 (£135) - Ragnaud Sabourin is known as one of the finest of all Cognac producers. Since it was founded by Gaston Briand, it has been run by three generations of women, who uphold the company's traditions: low quantity, high quality. There was a beautiful complexity to this Grande Champagne Cognac: dried fruits, leather, tannin, floral spices, oranges and citrus.

Cognac is dominated by four brands - Rémy-Martin, Hennessey, Martell, and Courvoisier - who together sell 80% of all Cognac. We tasted these boutique Cognacs together with Rémy-Martin VSOP and Martell XO. The Rémy-Martin, retailing at around £30-40, was of a good standard, with bread and toffee flavours, though its finish wasn't that long - relatively good value for the price. The Martell XO, retailing at around £120-130, quite simply had none of the distinctive characteristics of the Cognacs from the smaller producers yet was selling for around the same price. Proof that if you have the money to spend, spend it on quality not on a famous name.