brandy is the general term for spirits distilled from the fermented juice, mash, pulp, or wine of fruit (or from its residue); taken together, these spirits represent one of the major historical categories of distilled spirits, along with rum, whisky, and the like. See spirits. The word brandy is derived from the Dutch brandewijn or gebrande wijn, meaning burned (that is, distilled) wine. From the most elegant hors d’age cognac to rowdy young California brandies destined for Wisconsin’s celebrated Old-Fashioned cocktail, brandy is most famously made from grapes. See Old-Fashioned. The argument that brandy must be made from grapes, however, is a regional prejudice that does not reflect global practice; any fruit with sufficient natural sugars may be fermented and distilled into brandy. Brandy may be wrested from dried fruits such as dates, raisins, or figs when mixed with water and fermented, but because brandies are more typically made from delicate fresh fruit that may suffer damage from rough handling during long transport, its production is overwhelmingly local and seasonal.
The distillation of brandy in Europe is often thought to have emerged in the Middle Ages as an efflorescence of Arab rose-water-distilling techniques, but Herman Diels and C. Anne Wilson separately argue that a text written in Greek around 200 ce, attributed to the Christian theologian Hippolytus, describes wine distillation. Such grape distillates, however, were not brandy as we understand it today. Rather, Wilson writes, they were part of secret Gnostic fire rituals with even deeper roots reaching back to the philosopher-chemists of Hellenistic and Roman Egypt. Or so the argument goes. Meanwhile, in the 600s, brandy making seems to have become a specialty of the Uighur silk-road oasis of Turpan, where grapes were mixed with qu, the traditional Chinese fermentation starter, and then “steamed.” Large-scale production of brandies closer to the beverage we know began in earnest in the 1500s when Flemish, English, and other traders came to favor strong, young eaux-de-vie from Charente in western France. By that time, the Dutch had gained an international reputation as skilled distillers who could transform sour or lackluster wines into spirits consumed as eau-de-vie or reconstituted with water to make ersatz wine. See distillation, history, and eau-de-vie.
Brandy Defined
It is difficult to concisely define such a broad category. Cognac, for example, must be distilled twice in open-flame copper pot stills, but no final proof is specified (in practice, it ends up at between 68 percent and 75 percent ABV). According to American regulations, brandy (made from grapes, unless otherwise specified) must be distilled at less than 95 percent ABV and bottled at no less than 40 percent ABV and must have “the taste, aroma and characteristics generally attributed to brandy,” but no still type is required. As with most countries, when it comes to dealing with imported brandies, US regulations generally defer to the laws and regulations of the countries from which they originate. Brandy de Jerez, for example, must be in compliance with Spanish laws concerning its production and labeling.
In broad strokes, distillers make brandies intended either to mature over the course of years as aromatic brown spirits or to be consumed relatively young as “white” spirits. The latter are colorless brandies either wholly unaged or rested in containers made of inert materials such as stainless steel, glass, or clay. Such resting allows these spirits to stabilize and mellow without acquiring aroma and flavor compounds typical of barrel aged spirits. The French term eau-de-vie (meaning “water of life” and often abbreviated EDV) may describe the hearts cut of a brandy distillation run, but is more popularly ascribed to colorless fruit spirits made from spirits such as cherry, apricot, and plum. Well-made eaux-de-vie capture the essence of fruits at the height of their aroma and flavor. See
When barrel aged for decades, brandies may acquire rich, lush aromas, tastes, and textures during their physical and chemical interactions with the barrels and surrounding environments. During this long maturation, they take on autumnal hues, while the distinct fresh fruit aromas of young fruit brandies diminish as more complex aromas emerge. Others yet may be bottled relatively young, after perhaps a year or two in wooden barrels. Such young spirits lack the structure and nuance of aged brandies but may shine in mixed drinks. See barrel; élevage; and maturation.
Brandy Fruits
Grape brandies, often aged in French or American oak, dominate the market. They may be made from pressed juice, a mix of juice and pulp, or pomace (the skins, stems, seeds, and pulp left from pressing grapes for white wine or recovered from red wines fermented on the skin). Examples include cognac, Armagnac, and marc from France; Italian grappa; Peruvian and Chilean pisco; and Spanish brandy de Jerez. See Armagnac; brandy de Jerez; cognac; grappa; marc; and pisco. Some, especially some cognacs, are distilled on lees, a residue of dead yeast cells produced during fermentation and critical for creating rancio, a prized attribute of aged brandies. Americans prefer the Italian term grappa for pomace brandies rather than the French marc, though both are used. Grape brandies may be aged, unaged, flavored, or not. They are often made at wineries as a value-added product or to use in-house for fortified wines such as port. Such fortifying brandies, distilled between 85 percent and 95 percent ABV, are known in the liquor trade as “neutral brandy” and may be used as the base spirit for cordials, liqueurs, and flavored brandies. See brandy, pomace; wines, fortified; and rancio.
Non-grape brandies are collectively known as fruit brandies. They include the following:
Pome fruit brandies are made from fleshy fruits with a core containing seeds. Apple and pear are the most important for commercial distilling, but quince, crabapples, and others are also used. Of the pome fruit brandies, cider-based calvados from northwestern France is arguably the best known globally, but apple brandies are also made in England, Australia, Japan, and other places where apples are grown. See calvados. Applejack may refer to American apple brandy, but the federally designated class of “blended applejack” is merely neutral spirits flavored with apple brandy. See applejack. Distillers sometimes make “imprisoned” apples and pears by covering a single bud with an empty bottle until the growing fruit ripens. They then cut the fruit’s stem and fill the bottle with brandy of the same type. See poire Williams.
Stone fruit brandies include peach, apricot, plum, cherry, and other fruits with a single large kernel. From the seventeenth century until the twentieth, aged peach brandy was America’s native luxury spirit. See peach brandy. In German, the designation -wasser (as in kirschwasser) may be used to describe eaux-de-vie of stone fruits. See apricot brandy; cherry brandy; kirsch; and slivovitz. Brandies made of softer fruits without such stones and with too little sugar to ferment profitably alone may be macerated in alcohol and re-distilled. In German, these spirits are designated -geist (as in Himbeergeist, a clear raspberry brandy).
Flavored brandies (made by macerating fruits or other ingredients such as blackberry, Douglas-fir tips, coffee, or apricot in grape spirits) have long enjoyed popularity around the world. Some are excellent. Experimental brandies infused with arresting ingredients such as foie gras or Dungeness crab get some play among distillers but are unlikely to see commercial production. See coffee liqueurs.
Drinking Brandy
Brandy is often consumed neat, that is, without ice or mixers. However, aged brandies in particular make excellent base spirits and have had a starring role in mixed drinks for centuries. Brandy makes, for instance, the foundation of a particularly suave punch and was the spirit most commonly associated with the Mint Julep when it was at the peak of its popularity. Other drinks that use or may use brandies include the Alexander, Crusta, Highball, Jack Rose, Japanese Cocktail, Milk Punch, Sidecar, and Stinger. See Alexander Cocktail; Crusta; Jack Rose; Highball; Japanese Cocktail; Milk Punch; julep; punch; Rose Cocktail; Sidecar; and Stinger.
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Germain-Robin, Hubert. Traditional Distillation: Art and Passion. N.p.: White Mule, 2012.
Germain-Robin, Hubert. The Maturation of Distilled Spirits: Vision and Patience. N.p.: White Mule, 2016.
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By: Matthew Rowley