Brandy

Brandy, spirit distilled from wine and matured by ageing in wooden casks. The name is derived from the German brandtwein, meaning burnt wine, corrupted to brandy wine. When freshly distilled, brandy is clear and colourless and will remain so if kept in glass containers. Placed in wooden casks, however, the spirits acquire a colouring matter from the wood and take on a light brownish tint, which dealers often deepen by adding burnt sugar. The distinctive aroma of brandy is due to the presence of traces of higher alcohols and volatile oils. The very high alcoholic content of the raw spirits is reduced somewhat by ageing and is usually between 37 and 44 per cent (usually around 40 per cent) alcohol by volume when the brandy is bottled for sale.

Perhaps the most famous brandy is cognac, named after the town of the same name in the wine-producing department of Charente, France. The amber-hued cognac is made by distilling white wine, which is then aged in an oak cask. Armagnac is another well-known French brandy, from one of three areas: Bas-Armagnac, Haut-Armagnac, or Ténarèze. Other notable brandies are kirsch, produced in the Alsace area of France, in Switzerland, and in the Black Forest region of Germany, by distilling the fermented juice of the black morello cherry; calvados, made from the distillation of cider in the department of Calvados in France; and slivovitz, a dry, colourless plum brandy made in the Balkans.