The general concept of brandy includes several categories of drinks, including cognac. Wine connoisseurs claim that all cognac can be called brandy, but only the only brandy has the opportunity to be considered cognac. So what are their differences? Many people love whiskey, brandy, cognac all over the world, but not everyone understands what their fundamental differences and features are.
Whiskey history
The origin of this strong drink goes back in time. Disputes between Ireland and Scotland do not stop until now - each country asserts its right to create the first whiskey.
According to the Scots, it was they who invented the noble drink, replacing grapes with barley. They liked the alcohol so much that they called it “Uisge beatha”, which means “water of life” in Scottish. Then the conquerors from England adopted the recipe and name, and after some changes in pronunciation, the name “whiskey” appeared.
Initially, now the cult drink was made exclusively in monasteries and was used as a medicine. When the recipe fell into the hands of the peasants, they used it to receive additional income. In addition to barley, they began to use rye, and sometimes even oats. Due to several distillations, the strength of the drink increased, which contributed to its popularity. It was no longer a pure whiskey drink, but Scottish scotch tape. In the second half of the 19th century, production workshops appeared, and simple distilleries lost their relevance, and whiskey lost in quality.
Brandy story
The name of the drink arose from the burned wine from which it was made. “Branden” in Dutch means “to burn”, and “wijn” translates to “wine”. From the 15th to the 16th centuries, the Dutch used the haulage method to transport unstable light alcoholic beverages to other countries. They took the finished wine and distilled it to make a burned brandewijn wine. This word was subsequently abbreviated, and we got the familiar “brandy”. Now in English the word "brandy" means any strong alcoholic beverage, including cognac.
The European Union has established a rule regarding brandy. It can be called only that alcohol product that is aged in an oak barrel for at least six months, has a strength of at least 36 degrees, made exclusively of crushed grapes without pressing or grape wine. In addition, it is not allowed to paint and dilute the drink. Also, no additives other than caramel are recommended, unless they are regulated by the manufacturers.
Classic brandy has a strength of 57 to 75 percent and has a golden brown color. Often brandy and cognac are identified, as their classic cooking methods, color, and sometimes even taste are similar. However, strict standards such as cognac are not applied to the production of brandy, and its taste can be completely diverse, depending on the raw materials used for its preparation.
History of Cognac
The homeland of this drink is France, the town of Cognac. It was there that cognac was first made and named after the city. It is produced using special technology from a specific grape variety. Withstand from 10 to 30 years in oak barrels to "age". The longer the exposure, the more valuable and more expensive the drink.
In the XII century, the Duke Guillaume X created the first vineyards in the Charentes region, where the city of Cognac was located. They began to make wines that diverged throughout Europe and glorified the region. But there were some problems with transportation. This took too much time and often turned out so that upon arrival at the destination, French wines were already sour and lost their original taste. Then the enterprising French invented the technology of wine distillate, and subsequently began to distill the drinks twice. So they did not deteriorate during transportation, although they acquired a more severe smell and taste. They transported wine in oak barrels and found that with a long delay in the vessel, the taste of the drink improves. The idea came to specifically keep the drink in oak barrels. So there was a modern cognac.
Whiskey, brandy, cognac - what are the differences?
The history of the origin of the drinks is different, moreover, they were even invented in different countries, but this does not stop people from arguing that whiskey, brandy, cognac are almost identical drinks. This opinion is fundamentally wrong.
Real cognac is made only from grapes and only in France. It has its own specific taste, depending on the duration of exposure. Cognac is one of the varieties of brandy, which is called all the other distilled wines, but from other grape varieties or generally from fruits and berries and in any other place except France. In addition, brandy exposure can be as little as six months.
Whiskey is a stand-alone product. It is also aged, but is prepared in a completely different way using cereals. Now it becomes clear how brandy differs from whiskey and brandy.
In addition, the classification of cognacs should be mentioned . On real French cognacs you can find the Latin marking, which will indicate the aging period, for example, VSOP - 6 years or more, XO - from 20 years. If you see another marking in the form of stars on the bottles of cognac, this means that you have an ordinary drink made from alcohol. A bottle with three stars means three years of aging alcohol, from a five-year stay of alcohol in a barrel we get 5 stars cognac. Such "star" cognacs can be safely called brandy, since they are not prepared according to the classic recipe most often in Armenia, Georgia and Russia.
To drink whiskey, brandy, cognac and enjoy drinks, you do not need to know their history, but it’s nevertheless more pleasant to realize what you are drinking and feel like a connoisseur.