Brandy may have an old-fashioned image, but it’s growing in popularity with the younger generation. It’s a broader church than you probably realise too: while most brandy is made from grapes, it comes in a wide range of varieties, with different styles and flavours, and there are fruit brandies too.
So, whether you want to sip your brandy after dinner or mix it in cocktails, read on to discover the most flavoursome and fantastic options available from all around the globe. Check out our buyer’s guide too, to learn more about what brandy is, where it comes from and what are the most common types.
How to buy the best brandy for you
What is brandy made from?
Brandy is a spirit distilled from wine or another fermented fruit juice. The name originates from the Dutch “brandewijn”, meaning “burnt wine”, and it’s thought to have been discovered when wine was boiled down to reduce its volume, with a view to making it cheaper to ship overseas. The result was an even richer drink that had taken on some of the taste and colour of its oak casks.
Today, there are many types of brandy to choose from; it can be aged or unaged, and it can come from anywhere in the world. In fact, today there’s pretty much no country that doesn’t make brandy.
What are the common types of brandy?
Perhaps the best-known type of brandy is Cognac– considered by many to be the champagne of the brandy world. There are many styles, but all Cognac must be made from a specific selection of grapes, double-distilled in copper stills and aged for at least two years in French Limousin oak.
Cognac is usually blended, using grapes from different regions and classified according to age. For a VS (“Very Special”) Cognac, the youngest brandy must have been aged for at least two years; the VSOP (“Very Special Old Pale”, also known as “Reserve”) designation indicates a minimum age of four years. XO (“Extra Old”, also known as “Napoleon”) brandy must have been aged for at least ten years, while the oldest and most expensive Cognacs are referred to as “Hors d' ge” – literally, “beyond age”.
Another popular French brandy is Armagnac; hailing from a region south of Cognac, this uses column stills rather than pot stills, and the wines are distilled separately and only combined during bottling, which some people believe makes for a smoother taste. It uses a classification system similar to Cognac, although here VSOP indicates a minimum of five years’ ageing, and “Hors d' ge” can be used for anything aged for more than a decade.
Then there’s fruit brandy– that is, brandy made from any fruit other than grapes, such as apples, pears, apricots, plums and cherries. Eau de vie is a popular clear fruit brandy that’s produced in France by fermentation and double distillation; similar beverages are produced in other countries, including German schnapps, Turkish raki and Sri Lankan coconut arrack.
Grappa is a distinctively Italian take on brandy – a strong, pungent drink made by distilling grape skins and seeds, as opposed to a sweeter grape brandy, which includes the grape juice.
Finally, Spain offers Brandy de Jerez, distilled once in copper stills, then aged in oak barrels. This must be produced in the Jerez area of Andalusia, within the so-called “Sherry Triangle”, and comes in three categories. Solera is the youngest and fruitiest, with a minimum average age of one year; Solera Reserva has a minimum average age of three years, and the Solera Gran Reserva is the oldest with a minimum average age of 10 years.
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The best brandy to buy from £27
1. Château du Tariquet VSOP Bas Armagnac: Best affordable Armagnac
Price:£27 | Buy now from The Wine Society
This amber-coloured brandy begins with a wonderful whiff of prunes and spices, followed by rich, mellow flavours of caramel, fruit and wood, and oodles of vanilla and oak in the moreish finish. Founded by Spaniard Pierre Grassa over 100 years ago, Tariquet is now the largest independent viticultural estate in France, and run by his grandsons Rémi and Armin. Although this isn’t the oldest Armagnac on the block, it’s a real winner at a very reasonable price – and as well as making a very agreeable after-dinner drink, it also goes a treat with pâtés and cured meats.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 70cl; Type: Armagnac
2. H By Hine VSOP: Best new-age Cognac
Price: £40 | Buy now from Majestic
Cognac hasn’t always been a trendy drink, but Hine represents a new era, with fresher branding and a lighter feel aimed at a younger generation. It’s a novel blend of more than a dozen eaux de vie, with the youngest aged for at least four years; expect orange zest, cherry, tobacco and syrup on the nose, with the fruit continuing on the palate for a beautifully sweet taste, then finishing with a pleasant hit of darker fruits. Though designed with cocktails in mind, it also works very well with ginger ale and a slice of orange zest over ice.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 70cl; Type: Cognac
3. Roger Groult Calvados 12-Year-Old: Best Calvados
Price: £62.33 | Buy now from Master of Malt
A gold-medal winner at last year’s World Calvados Awards, this versatile apple brandy can be enjoyed as an aperitif, mixed in a cocktail, drunk after a meal (with or without coffee) or savoured with an apple-based pudding or chocolate. While XO Calvados must be aged at least six years, the distillers have stretched to this one out to 12 years, giving it rich aromas not only of mature apples but delicate florals, which continue onto the palate, alongside butterscotch and nuts.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 41%; Bottle size: 70cl; Type: Fruit brandy
4. Armagnac Delord Hors D' age 25-Year-Old: Best Armagnac
Price:£69 | Buy now from Oxford Wine
Connoisseurs won’t be disappointed with the spicy and peppery aromas of this copper-coloured Armagnac – and it’s followed by a complex depth of flavour, including biscuit, caramel, chocolate, spice, vanilla and walnut. Made in the quiet market town of Lannepax in the Bas-Armagnac region by the Delord family, it’s bottled, labelled, wax-sealed and gold-embossed by hand by artisan craftsmen. Although not cheap, it’s as rich and flavoursome as some Armagnacs twice the price; if the purse strings won’t stretch, try the 15-year-old variant, which is very nearly as good.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 70cl; Type: Armagnac
5. Gonzalez Byass Lepanto Solera Gran Reserva Brandy: Best Brandy de Jerez
Price:£57.91 | Buy it now from Master of Malt
No aficionado visiting the “Sherry Triangle” would leave without a visit to the renowned Gonzalez Byass. It’s home to a delightful museum celebrating all things sherry, and also produces this fabulous coffee-coloured brandy, which spends 12 years in a Solera vat, then a further three years in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The result is intense and complex, with aromas of raisin, dried figs and caramel; the taste is spicy, woody and fruity with hints of coffee and cocoa and a lingering finish. On the sweeter side, but beautifully balanced.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 36%; Bottle size: 70cl; Type: Brandy de Jerez
6. Hennessy XO Cognac: Best traditional Cognac
Price:£133 | Buy now from the Whisky Exchange
This original “extra-old” cognac is undeniably a great cigar accompaniment – but there’s more to it than that. Brandy experts and newcomers alike will fall in love with its expansive bouquet of prunes, dried figs, chocolate and spices, and the refined, robust and rounded tastes that bring it all to life in your mouth. It finishes on a sweet note, with a hint of cinnamon – perfect for a winter’s evening. First bottled in 1870, it’s still a top seller, and that’s hardly surprising: it’s a classic brandy that people always come back to.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 40%; Bottle size: 70cl; Type: Cognac
7. Nardini Riserva Grappa Classic: Best grappa
Price:£80 | Buy it now from the Whisky Exchange
Made from fresh grape pomace from the Veneto foothills and Friuli, then aged for five years in Slavonian oak barrels, this superb example of the Italian national spirit has a fruity aroma with notes of apples, lemons and nectarines, coupled with a rich oakiness and a honeyed, spicy palate. It’s a signature product of the Nardini family, who have been distilling since 1779 in what is now Italy’s oldest distillery; modern fans including Nigella Lawson. The high alcohol content gives this one a real backbone, so it’s ideal for enjoying after dinner with either a big fat cigar or some rich, dark chocolate.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 50%; Bottle size: 70cl; Type: Grappa
8. Ableforth’s Cherry Brandy: Best cherry brandy
Price:£62 | Buy it from Master of Malt
Ableforth’s makes a damn fine gin, and we’re impressed with the company's cherry brandy too. While many such concoctions are made by adding flavouring to a neutral spirit, this is the real deal – top-notch French brandy combined with first-class cherries, which results in a very classy, warming after-dinner beverage. As soon as you open the lid, you’ll smell Bakewell tart and cinnamon spices; the taste is pure, sticky, sweet and syrupy with dark cherries and damson and a kick of allspice. Quite unlike any other cherry brandy we’ve tried, it’s absolutely luscious.
Key specs – Alcohol content: 27.8%; Bottle size: 50cl; Type: Fruit brandy
