Brandy for cocktails: cognac, calvados, pisco and more
Brandy is distilled wine or fruit. The styles behind the Sidecar, Jack Rose and Pisco Sour, and what VS and VSOP mean.
Brandy is spirit distilled from wine or another fermented fruit. In the 19th century it was the most prestigious base in the American bar: Jerry Thomas's 1862 book is full of brandy cocktails, punches and crustas. Its decline began when the phylloxera aphid devastated European vineyards from the 1860s to the 1890s and cognac grew scarce, opening the way for whisky and gin.
The styles in recipes
- Cognac
- From a defined region around Cognac in south-west France, mostly from Ugni Blanc grapes, double-distilled in copper pot stills and aged in French oak. Age statements are minimums: VS at least two years, VSOP at least four, XO at least ten. VS or VSOP is the mixing choice (Sidecar, Vieux Carré, Brandy Crusta).
- Armagnac
- From Gascony, usually distilled once in a column still, more rustic and fuller. Interchangeable with cognac in most recipes for a bolder drink.
- Apple brandy
- Calvados from Normandy and American applejack. The base of the Jack Rose. American "applejack" today is often a blend with neutral spirit; a straight apple brandy gives more fruit.
- Pisco
- Grape brandy from Peru and Chile. Peruvian pisco is distilled to bottling strength and rested, not aged in wood, so it is clear and intensely aromatic. The base of the Pisco Sour.
Choosing a bottle
Spend on VSOP rather than XO: older cognacs carry subtle oak that citrus and liqueur simply cover. For the Brandy Alexander and Stinger, a rounder, slightly sweet brandy is fine.
