Home - Calvados Online Calvados Online, the premier source for calvados. Calvados Online is proud to offer you only the finest calvados from Normandy, meticulously selected from amongst the dozens of calvados brands available in France. Most widely exported calvados is of bulk commercial quality, pleasant enough, but only a pale shadow of what the drink can be: a rich amber nectar, with heady aromas of baked apples, toffee and brioche, and a taste that combines the mouth-watering freshness of a crisp apple with the mellowness of an old brandy. The best calvados is made by a handful of dedicated small family producers, using apples from ancient trees and production methods unchanged from their fathers and grandfathers before them. This is the type of calvados you’ll find on Calvados Online. We live in Normandy, and even more importantly, our office is right in the middle of the apple growing heartland where the finest calvados is produced - so we know exactly where to find the very best bottlings, some of which are ONLY available in the region. Calvados, the fine spirit of Normandy...

Calvados is an apple brandy distilled from cider made from specially grown cider-apples, of which there are over 100 varieties divided in 4 categories: sweet, bitter-sweet, bitter and acidulous. Apples are harvested by hand and pressed into a juice that is fermented into cider. The cider is then distilled into a colourless eau-de-vie. After years aging in oak casks, the eau-de-vie gets its typical colour, aroma and character, and can be called a "calvados". There are 3 appellations - AOC - for calvados (or calva as we say here): Calvados. Minimum 20% of local apples varieties. Minimum 2 years of aging. No method of distillation imposed but the most common equipment used is the single-column alembic. Calvados Pays d'Auge. Produced in the Pays d'Auge area only (where our office is btw). Minimum 2 years of aging in oak barrels. Double distillation in an alembic à repasse. Calvados Domfrontais. Minimum 30% of pears. Minimum 3 years of aging in oak barrels.

Single distillation in a single-column alembic. But there is also a fourth category of calvados: the farm-made calvados, the secret one, the artisanal one that nobody can talk about in public. Email us for more details. All bottles and antiques are shipped in secured boxes, no risk of breakage. WE UNCONDITIONALLY GUARANTEE EVERY DELIVERY. In the very unlikely event that a bottle gets lost, we will replace it immediately or refund your money in full. We take credit cards, debit cards and bank transfers. We can also take payments over phone, email or fax thanks to our virtual terminal secured and managed by PayPal. See all details after validating your shopping cart. The History of Brandy | | FINGER LAKES DISTILLING FINGER LAKES DISTILLING crafted in new york • small batch distillation 4676 nys route 414 • burdett, new york open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (607) 546-5510 By John Pulos “Burnt Wine.” There is documented proof that Mediterranean traders brought primitive stills to Europe by the Third Century.

Arabic records indicate their use of stills in the Eighth Century. Arab alchemists experimented with distilling grapes to make a medicinal beverage. By the Sixteen Century, Dutch wine merchants began removing the water from the wine, to be used in trade, so more liquid could be shipped in limited cargo space. Many countries were also charging taxes for the wine, by volume, and this method of removing the water from the wine also saved money. Primitive stills were used to remove the water. The Dutch called this “burnt wine,” brandewijn. The idea was to add water back to the brandewijn once it reached its destination. The only way to store liquid during this time was in wooden casks. When the brandewijn was opened after its long period in the wooden cask, it was found not to be wine at all – but a new spirit with an altered color, aroma, and taste. The “burnt wine” had become brandy. Modern brandy, in its broadest terms, is a spirit made from fruit and distilled to no more than 190 proof (any higher and it would be classified as vodka). Brandy is then broken down into three basic groupings.

Grape Brandy is distilled from fermented grape juice. It is aged in wooden casks (usually oak) which colors it and adds aromas and flavors. Pomace Brandy is made from the pressed grape pulp, skins, and stems that remain after the grapes are pressed for wine. Pomace brandies are most often not aged in wood and often tend to be raw and harsh. Italian Grappa and French Marc are two examples of pomace brandies and are considered spirits that are an “acquired taste.” Fruit Brandies are the third group of brandies. These are made from fermenting fruit other than grapes. Colorless fruit brandies are often called Eau-de-vie, a French term meaning “water of life.” Some fruit brandies are also aged in oak, as is Finger Lakes Distilling’s new Apple Brandy. Grape Brandy is further differentiated by the type of grapes that can be used and is thus location-specific. The Cognac region of France is located on the west-central Atlantic coast. This region produces the world’s best known brandy – Cognac.

The region is noted for its Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, and Colombard vinifera grapes which produce wines that are thin, tart, and low in alcohol – certainly not great for wine, but perfect for brandy. The origins of Cognac date back to the Seventeenth Century where it was, as it is today, double distilled in pot stills. The raw Cognac spirit is then aged in new French oak and selected batches are later transferred to used oak casks that impart less of the oak flavor while the brandy ages. Cognacs are unique in the spirit world. They are often blended from different vintages and different growing zones. There is no age statement for Cognac, but the industry has developed accepted “terms” to classify various Cognacs. V.S.: very superior V.S.P./Three Star: very superior pale – a minimum of 3 years in wood V.S.O.P./Five Star: very superior old pale – a minimum of 5 years in wood X.O./Luxury: extra old – a minimum age of 6 years for the young brandy in the blend with the average age running 20 years or older.

Luxury Cognacs are the the very finest from each Cognac house. The Armagnac region of France is located in the heart of the Gascony Province, in the southwest corner of the country. The brandy from this region, Armagnac, is the oldest brandy in France, dating to the 15th Century. The primary grapes for Armagnac are the same three used to create Cognac. The difference in the brandies is in the distillation and the length of aging. Armagnac is single distilled in a copper column still called alembic Armagnacais. The resulting spirit from this still has a much more assertive character and aroma and requires additional cask aging to “mellow” it out. It is often aged over 10 years and some spend over 30 years in French oak. The best of these brandies seem to be between 15 and 20 years old. Like Cognacs, Armagnacs are blends, but single vintages and single vineyards Armagnacs can be found. Location-specific grape brandies are found world wide. Pisco is the official spirit of Peru and Chile.

It was originally distilled by Spanish settlers in the Sixteenth Century. It is a clear, raw brandy made from muscat and quebranta grapes, double distilled in pot stills and aged for three months in vessels (glass or stainless steel) that will not alter its physical, chemical, or organic properties. In Mexico, Brandy now outsells both tequila and rum. Other world class brandies are produced in Spain, Italy, South Africa, Greece, and of course, in the United States. U.S. grape brandy can be traced to the 18th century Spanish missions in California. By the time the Civil War was over, brandy became a major industry with export trade to Europe. The Prohibition period of the 1920’s almost shut down the brandy business, as it did with all American produced spiritss. After World War II, California brandy producers began to develop their own style of grape brandy. It had a cleaner palate was much lighter than most European brandies. Most California (grape) brandies are distilled in column stills using varieties of California table grapes.

They are normally aged for a minimum of two years and up to twelve years in used American bourbon barrels which limits the woodiness in the palate of many European brandies. No discussion of the world’s brandies would be complete without discussing Fruit Brandies. They can be made from any fruit. Calvados, a French apple brandy, German Schnapps, Palinka from Hungry and Slivovitz (plum brandy) from the Eastern European countries of Serbia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary are all world renowned brandies made with fruits other than grapes. One of the most popular fruit brandies is derived from apples. The first distillation of apple cider can be traced to the mid-sixteenth century. Normandy is one of the few regions in France that does not raise world-class grapes. It is France’s “apple country.” The sweet and hard cider from this region are distilled into an Apple Brandy known world wide as Calvados. This pot stilled brandy is usually aged for at least two years and for as long as twenty years in French oak casks. American apple brandy was very popular during the Colonial Age. It is the original distilled spirit in the colonies dating to 1630.

Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington distilled apple brandy. In 1698, Scottish distiller William Laird began aging his apple brandy in oak, in New Jersey. (Today, Laird & Company continues a 300 year tradition of producing Apple Brandy and Applejack.) American apple brandy is often confused with “Applejack.” Dating back to the colonial period, Applejack was usually an unaged spirit produced by allowing fermented cider to freeze and then separating the unfrozen spirits. Today, most spirits labeled as “Applejack” are produced through distillation (as apple brandy has always been) and then mixed with other neutral spirits. Apple brandy is always composed of 100% distilled apples. Finger Lakes Distilling will be releasing their first pure aged Apple Brandy on February 26, 2015. (Since the opening Finger Lakes Distilling in 2009, a Maplejack liqueur has been offered which is an apple brandy, aged in used oak with local maple syrup added.) Finger Lakes Distilling’s Apple Brandy is made in the American style using apple cider produced from local apples.

The fertile soil of our Finger Lakes Region lends well to producing the high quality cider used in our apple brandy. The brandy is aged in used barrels from our acclaimed McKenzie Bourbon. The final blend maintains a strong apple flavor as well as a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. Today’s brandies are made in a variety of ways in countries throughout the world. As seen in the rating classifications of brandy, even the lowest rated ones are called “very superior,” leaving many to think of fine aged brandies as luxury items. Brandy has not reached the commercial success of vodka, or even of whiskey in this country, but brandy has carved out a historical niche that places it among the most popular spirits in the world. January 21 @ 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm Watkins Glen NY Calvados: Apple Brandy | Plus 5 Recipes To Use Calvados In | Spicie Foodie – Spicie Foodie ™ by Spicie Foodie 23 Comments Red wine is perhaps my favorite alcoholic drink. By no means am I a connoisseur of fine wines, I just know what I personally like.

One frigid night while trying to escape the winter winds in Bratislava, Slovakia, we made our way to the hotel’s lobby. Instead of a glass of red my husband suggested I order some cognac to warm up quicker. This was the first time I’d ever tasted cognac. I swirled my glass, more out of habit than proper etiquette, and poked my nose in for a smell. Immediately I knew that I was going to love cognac as much as I do wine. A small sip, then the warm swallow. Wow! It was strong but I loved the warmth and taste the it left in my mouth and down my throat. Cognac like wine is made from grapes and comes from the Cognac region of France, it is also the best known type of brandy. As I took the last sip of Cognac I looked at my husband and declared that I loved cognac — but to be sure I would need another glass. (wink) A few years ago while vacationing in Basse-Normandie (or Lower Normandy) we got to sample a famous brandy from the region called Calvados, it too goes by the same name.

Calvados is a fruit brandy distilled from apples. It is made through a double distillation of cider then aged in French oak barrels. The apples used can range from very sweet to tart and bitter varieties. Our first sampling or introduction to calvados was thanks to a great waiter from a restaurant in Trouville-sur-Mer. He suggested an apéritif while we explored the menu and decided on our dinner menu. As he served our calvados he went on to explain that it was a special apple brandy from the region. Very proudly, he said that a visit to the region was not complete without a few glasses of calvados. Who are we to argue with him, so we asked for a couple of glasses. We brought our snifters in close for a smell. Calvados smells like apples and a tad sweet, but also like the alcohol of brandy or cognac. The color is golden and as it ages it turns a darker brown. The initial taste is apples, then a warm brandy taste, and the last undertones are of apples. Well, at least that is the taste to my untrained palate.

If you don’t like the strong taste of cognac or brandy you may not like calvados. Yes, the apple tones are there but it is not as smooth as drinking cider. I happen to love the strong and warming effects of cognac and brandy, so to me calvados tastes fantastic! You may also think how much punch can apples carry anyway — beaucoup, a lot, so take your time with this apple drink. Sip and enjoy it. The best way to enjoy calvados is snuggled up with a good book. Santé! Calvados / Calvados :: Food Encyclopedia - Foodgeeks Add your photo of this encyclopedia entry Calvados A dry Brandy made from apples, named after the Calvados region of Normandy, France, where this style of Brandy was originally developed. Normandy is filled with orchards planted with apple trees and throughout history the apple has been a pillar in the economic and cultural welfare of Normandy. Cider and calvados have traditionally been produced on the farm in Normandy since the Middle Ages. While brandy can made anywhere in the world the apple brandy Calvados can only be produced in this special region of France.

Many factors help set it apart from other brandy and it all starts with the soil, climate and agricultural heritage, of the people of Normandy. Calvados received Appellation d'Origine status in 1942 and today three different appellations exist for Calvados and one for Pommeau. Each appellation has unique and distinguishing characteristics, which concern the geographical area and the distillation process. The geographical production areas are strictly defined and all operations that result in the production of calvados and Pommeau are carried out within these zones. AOC Calvados - In short apples from the Calvados region made a single, continuous distillation process using a column still. AOC Calvados Pays d'Auge - The most controlled and perceived highest quality. In short apples from the Pays d’Auge distilled in a copper double still. AOC Calvados Domfrontais - Made of at least 30% pears in the Domfrontais region with a single, continuous distillation process using a column still. Pommeau - A sweet harmonious blend of two-thirds apple juice and one-third calvados aged in oak produced for centuries by Norman farmers.

Pommeau de Normandie was officially recognised and protected gaining its own Appellation d’Origine Controlee in 1991. Fermier Calvados - Some producers live up to another quality control the production fermiere or produit fermier, which indicates that the calvados is farm made in the traditional way. The whole process from apple to calvados is carried out on the farm according to the highest quality demands. It all starts with the right apple not just any apple and certainly not eating apples. Instead small fruits with great aromatic intensity are used. Generally sweet varieties of pear are chosen. For the making of calvados, hundreds of varieties of apple can be used. Traditional producers grow 20 to 40 varieties. The various varieties ensure the production of a juice containing the necessary sugar, tannins and acidity. Traditionally the harvest was carried out by shaking the branches of high stem trees. The apples would fall onto tarpaulins spread out below the trees where they are gathered by hand and placed in sacks. Apples to be used for calvados would be stored on the floor, piled to a height of about 70 centimetres.

There are three different periods of ripening early season apples, which ripen in September, mid season apples ripening from October to mid-November and late-season apples, which are harvested in December and generally stored until January. The mid and later season apples are used for the production of Calvados early season apples would have to be mashed early when temperatures are still too high for the production of good cider. The apples used must all be equally ripe when the crusher transforms the apples into a homogeneous pulp. The pulp is left to work for a few hours allowing the apples to soften, making it easier to extract the juice tannins and aromas once the pulp is conveyed to a hydraulic batch press, which extracts the juice by squeezing. Most of the flavour is extracted from the skin and not from the pulp. Compared with cider for drinking cider for distillation is fermented until crisp dry. The fermentation takes place in large oak barrels. The cider ferments for anything from 6 weeks to a year depending on the producer and then can be aged for a further year before distillation. Early European distillation was primitive and shrouded in mystery.

Apothecaries and monasteries sold alcohol not as a beverage but as a medicine, “aqua vitae” or “eau de vie” a cure for anything or a life-span enhancing elixir. Before 1942 Calvados was still widely called “eau de vie de Calvados.” Many wood-fired stills are still used today although gas-fired stills require less attention. From the home made to the high-tech the variety and individual characteristics of different stills contribute to the individuality of what they produce. In general the flavour of calvados distilled in double distillation is more complex compared to that distilled in a continuous still. AOC Calvados Pays d’Auge is distilled twice the first distillation of cider yields an intermediate product with strength of about 30%. This product is distilled again. The liquid produced is not called calvados but “eau de vie de cider” and is colourless with strength in the region of 70%. The producers of Calvados have agreed to age the spirit for a minimum of two years or three years for Calvados Domfrontais and then test it before the spirit is sold as Calvados.

Much is aged for a great deal longer and some is aged for between 20 and possibly 60 years. The Calvados extracts various substances from the wood, including tannins that give it colour and body. Its bouquet intensifies and its colour changes from golden to deeper and deeper shades of amber. On contact with oxygen, the wood compounds dissolved in the spirit and undergo chemical transformations producing new aromas. Often former sherry and port casks are used. This helps yield fewer bitter tannins and helps to give finer colour, more body and greater aromatic richness. In the cask, the 1-3% of the Calvados evaporates through pores of the wood, which is known as the "Angels Share". In other words, Angels who are fond of Calvados sip the sacred beverage while no one is looking. Calvados | BevX Calvados Calvados – apples perfected Calvados is the world famous, and rightfully so, apple based brandy from the Normandy region of France. Some 40 varieties of apples and pears are permitted to used in creating Calvados. These varieties are categorized as: sweet, bittersweet, bitter, and acidic.

The distiller blends these carefully to achieve the desired character. The juice is fermented, often with natural airborne yeast creating a hard cider. Some producers will bottle and sell a portion of their cider that is often delicious especially when fresh. Calvados is typically aged three to ten years although vintage Calvados from top producers can easily be found. Calvados should be dominated by flavors and aromas of apples (typically baked apples) complimented by notes of brown spices, cinnamon, oak, and brown sugar. Calvados is scandalously under appreciated, even at home in France. Unfortunately, it had a sordid history as a cheap distillate frequently used to give a jolt to coffee. Beyond the high-octane café, Calvados was secondarily known as a component in desserts. Today Calvados is enjoying a revival as many consumers are discovering that it’s not just for cooking any more!

If you are curious about Calvados you must read our full Calvados HERE Find a list of Calvados brands HERE Links to all Calvados Reviews at BevX HERE Calvados: Spirit of the Apple Michael Bateman posted Jan 22nd, 2007 at 12:00am Skinner/Veron There is no secret to making good calvados, says Claude Camut. "All you need is the bonne fortune of being in the right place, on the right farm, with the right apples, for 800 years." He should know. The head of a family that can indeed trace its lineage back eight centuries, to Viking times, he bears a name synonymous with some of Normandy's finest farm-produced calvados. Calvados, of course, is the region's world-famous apple brandy, distilled from cider just as cognac and armagnac are distilled from wine.

(Appellation laws permit the use of a limited percentage of pears as well, though most quality producers eschew them.) A well-aged calvados of the best quality, glowing amber and gold, with its mysterious and complex aromas of fruit and vanilla—its haunting suggestion not so much of apples as of the elegant ghost of apples—is simply one of the world's great spirits. Not all calvados answers this description, it must be said—not by a long shot. Much of it is crudely made, a tongue-lashing, mouth-puckering, hangover-inducing firewater. (In her memoir A Gift of Joy, Helen Hayes observes that "Calvados is peculiar stuff. Veteran French boozers limit themselves to a tablespoonful, and at that, end up licking policemen and setting fire to the Arc de Triomphe.") Its reputation has hardly been enhanced by the Parisian fashion for "cafe-calva," a measure of fairly raw spirit plunged into a cup of hot black coffee, or into its dregs. (Normans have a different idea—the "trou normand" or "Norman hole." This is simply a shot of calvados downed quickly between courses of a serious meal.

The alcohol temporarily arrests the digestive process, giving the impression of a "hole" in the stomach into which more of the rich local cuisine, which is typically full of cream and butter, may be shoveled.) If Parisians remain fond of the cafe-calva, though, they are apparently also beginning to appreciate calvados of the highest quality. "Calvados had been stuck with a very bad image," explains Christian Drouin, producer of Coeur-de-Lion. But, he says, "The sommelier of La Tour d'Argent told me he has been selling more calvados than cognac since 1989." At the turn of the century, 90 percent of all calvados was made noncommercially, by farmers, on the farm. Today, it's a mere handful, with a slightly larger handful coming from commercial farmer-producers like Claude Camut, and the rest turned out by four large companies—Boulard, Busnel, Pere Magloire, and Gilbert. Larger producers buy apples, cider, even old stocks of already-distilled calvados for blending. Camut grows all his own apples, makes and distills his own cider, and ages it himself.

His orchard is his patrimony. He waves at the nearby trees—they are planted about 30 feet apart, each pruned to just a few wide-spreading limbs and shaped so that they allow the maximum amount of sun to filter through—and notes that these are the region's traditional hautes tiges, or tall trunks. He could produce 10 to 15 times as many apples, he says, if he used newer, high-yield varieties of fruit and pruned the trees to a height of about six feet, so that they could be machine-picked. But he's not interested. "This would not produce calvados of the same quality," he says with a shrug. Each of the 25 traditional varieties he does grow, adds Camut, contributes something distinctive to his calvados. Blending fruit of varying degrees of sweetness helps give balance to the finished brandy. Some of his apples are wizened little specimens no bigger than golf balls. Nonetheless, he maintains, they all taste good. (I don't agree, incidentally.

Try one and you'll probably want to spit it out, as the first agreeable sensation of sweetness on the tip of your tongue dissolves into parching bitterness.) "In Paris," he laughs, "they think it is very funny we can make such a marvelous spirit with such horrible-looking apples." Calvados is made in delineated regions within the departement of Calvados (supposedly named after the man-of-war El Calvador, part of the Spanish Armada, which sank off the coast of Normandy in the 16th century) and portions of the departements of Manche, Orme, Eure, and Seine-Maritime. The most celebrated of these regions, and the one that produces the finest calvados by far, is the Pays d'Auge—famous for the quality of its apples and for the chalky soil in which they grow. The calvados of the Pays d'Auge has been granted an Appellation d'Origine Controlee by the French government, guaranteeing its authenticity.

Appellation regulations for the region require that calvados du Pays d'Auge be double-distilled in the traditional manner, aged in oaken casks, and not be sold until it is at least two years old. (Calvados labeled as "Vieux" or "Reserve" has been aged for at least three years. The terms "VO," "VSOP," or "Vieille Reserve" promise spirits at least four years of age, and calvados more than six years old may be called "Hors d'Âge," "Napoleon," "Âge Inconnu," or "Extra." In blended calvados, the age of the youngest brandy applies.) Because calvados, like all dry spirits, improves only in the cask, it is not bottled until it is required for sale. Throughout the aging process, distilled water is introduced into the casks to reduce the alcohol content of the spirits to a commercial standard of 42 degrees (84 proof). Many producers believe that calvados would actually benefit from even greater dilution. Calvados is the largest departement in Normandy.

Its administrative capital is the river port and former steel town of Caen—but the capital of Calvados, insofar as it has one, is the little town of Pont l'Éveque, about 30 miles to the northeast, famous for its odorous but excellent farmhouse cheese. Within a 15-mile radius of Pont l'Éveque, you will find most of the best producers of calvados du Pays d'Auge, large and small. Nursing cider into raw eau-de-vie and then into aged calvados is as much pure science as art. And very beautiful science it is, for the technology, both ancient and modern, is wonderful to see. You can enjoy it in its most modern form at Boulard's Cidrerie, located in Pont l'Éveque—a postmodern cathedral of a place where the cider that will eventually become calvados is fermented. The fermented cider is distilled into calvados, on the other hand, in a more traditional facility up the road in Coquainvilliers.

Here, the burnished copper alembic stills evoke Aladdin's lamp or the onion domes of the Kremlin, while the curving metal pipes suggest a Turkish hookah. The mix of old and new is dramatic, too, at Busnel in nearby Cormeilles, the largest distiller of calvados in the Pays d'Auge. The distillery is thoroughly modern—but all the brandy at Busnel goes into wooden casks, as much as 200 years old. "New oak kills the apple," says Busnel director Michel Hamon. "Our object is to re-find the apple." Toward that end, he says, between 25 and 40 apple varieties go into a typical Busnel blend. Étienne Dupont, who gave up a career in banking to take over the family calvados business after his father's death in 1978, uses a sparse ten varieties of apple. He also insists that his apples be very, very small, because most of the more intense aromas, he says, lie close to the skin. "I aim to achieve typicite," he says. "Some people like it, some may not, but you can't please everybody.

I'm not selling Coca-Cola." Tags: Brandy: A Beginner's Guide - Eater Brandy: A Beginner's Guide The Chanticleer brandy cocktail adapted by David Wondrich using 1840 Original Formula. Courtesy of Pierre Ferrand Cognac Think that all brandy is Cognac? Or that all brandy is French, made from grapes and sipped from snifters? Far from it. According to the latest statistics from DISCUS (the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States), in 2013 there were 11.1 million 9-liter cases of brandy sold in the United States, up 15 percent from 2002, with the super premium category leading the charge, up 54.3 percent. That's more brandy sold annually than gin, at 10 million cases, and Scotch, at 9.43 million cases. Yet, for so many drinkers, brandy simply equates to Hennessy or Remy Martin.

"The only times I really hear brandy referenced, it's the most generic, cliché image of a stuffy old white man in a smoking jacket with a snifter by a fireplace drinking some unpronounceable French brandy," says Chad Robinson, an all-around brandy enthusiast, and brand ambassador for Catoctin Creek, a Virginia distillery which produces a range of brandies, in addition to whiskey and gin. Yes, brandy can be enjoyed in that form and fashion. But no, that's not all there is to it. Brandies From Around the World Brandy de Jerez is a Spanish brandy made in the Jerez region of Andalusia. Calvados hails from France, however it's an apple brandy and must come from the Normandy region. Grappa is an Italian pomace brandy, made from the pomace leftover after winemaking. Ouzo, from Greece, is also made from pomace, however it's flavored with anise and potentially other herbs, so is not technically a brandy. Palinka is a Hungarian fruit brandy which dates back to the 14th century. Palenka, meanwhile, comes from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Pisco is a Peruvian brandy, although Chile makes it too under different classifications and the two nations battle over the term. As opposed to Cognac, with mandatory oak barrel aging, Peruvian pisco cannot be aged in wood. Rakia is a Balkan fruit brandy, but it's not to be confused with Raki, a Turkish anise-flavored spirit distilled from grape pomace à la Ouzo. Schnapps is a broad classification of fruit brandies from Germany. What is Brandy? Brandy, by definition, refers to a spirit which has been distilled from wine, or another fermented fruit juice. It can be aged, as is required for Cognacs, or it can be unaged, and it can come from anywhere in the world. What is Cognac? "Cognac is to brandy what Champagne is to sparkling wine," explains Alexandre Gabriel, proprietor of Pierre Ferrand Cognac. It simply means that the particular brandy known as Cognac is, "made in a specific region of France following specific rules to guarantee its quality." The Cognac region is in western France, north of Bordeaux, with one border on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

Beyond Champagne to sparkling wine, there's another easy comparison as well. "I frequently have to explain to people the difference between bourbon and whiskey, namely that bourbon is a type of whiskey ," says Robinson. "I similarly try to explain to folks that Cognac is a type of brandy." Within Cognac, there's a broad range of styles, as there is within any other category of spirit, such as bourbon . For instance, half a dozen different sub-regions exist within Cognac, noted as offering different taste characteristics and overall quality levels. "Cognac is to brandy what Champagne is to sparkling wine." "The Grande Champagne de Cognac is a very special and small area in the heart of the Cognac region," explains Gabriel. "Most Cognac houses have a Grande Champagne edition that is usually their most prestigious." Cognac must be made from a specific selection of grapes, double distilled in copper alembic stills and aged for a minimum of two years in French Limousin oak . Cognac is most often blended, utilizing grapes from different regions, as well as barrels of different ages.

There's also a hierarchy of quality for Cognac, including: V.S., "Very Special" or "Three Star" Cognac, in which the youngest brandy is at least two years. V.S.O.P., "Very Special Old Pale" or "Reserve," with a minimum age of four years. X.O., "Extra Old" or "Napoleon," with a minimum age of six years, set to change to a minimum of 10 years in 2016. Hors d'Age is used to indicate even older and more premium releases. Prior to time spent in those oak barrels, as is required for Cognac, a spirit made in the same fashion anywhere in the world is known as an eau de vie, referring to a clear brandy. Meanwhile "fruit brandy" can be used to refer to brandy made from any fruit besides grapes. The Jackson Punch, adapted by David Wondrich from an 1863 recipe by Jerry Thomas. Photo courtesy of Pierre Ferrand Cognac. Cognac must be made from a specific selection of grapes, double distilled in copper alembic stills and aged for a minimum of two years in French Limousine oak.

Back to Cognac, all Cognac does not need to be sipped neat. Of course, traditional libations such as the Sidecar and Vieux Carré are made with Cognac, so the spirit's cocktail heritage is strong. Those looking to try a style of Cognac (young and lively, but still with dark, rich flavors and a higher proof) that would have been originally used in those drinks and other classic cocktails should look to Pierre Ferrand's 1840 Original Formula—a super unique and relatively new bottle that has won several notable awards. The spirit's final blend is based upon a surviving bottle of Pinet-Castillon Cognac from the year 1840, which Gabriel and his team, including cocktail historian David Wondrich, sampled and evaluated. Armagnac Armagnac, an aged French brandy hailing from a region south of Cognac, has started to gain traction stateside as an often more affordable Cognac alternative. Three sub-regions exist within Armagnac and, as opposed to Cognac's double alembic still distillation, brandy production in the area typically involves a single distillation using column stills.

Armagnac's spirit classification system is similar to Cognac's. Here though, V.S.O.P. indicates a minimum age of five years, rather than four, X.O. is stays put at six years, and Hors d'Age indicates a minimum of 10 years. Catoctin Creek's 1757 Virginia Brandy. Photo courtesy of Firefly Imageworks. American Brandy Spin a globe and randomly pick a country and it's likely that a distinctive brandy is produced there. That includes the United States, with applejack, which is distilled from hard apple cider, otherwise known as fermented apple juice. Apples and apple cider were both used for brandy production in America dating back to the colonial period. "Those trees good ol' Johnny Appleseed were planting weren't to keep the doctor away," jokes Robinson, "he was making cider and applejack!" Today, a broad range of brandy is produced from coast to coast. That includes the aforementioned Catoctin Creek, which makes 1757 Virginia Brandy, Pearousia, a pear brandy, and several other fruit brandies.

"Other small American producers like Osocalis and Germain Robin, they're putting the same kind of effort, love and energy into making outstanding American brandies," notes Robinson, also citing Copper & Kings as another American brandy producer worth checking out.

Question: Which region of France was renamed after the apple brandy distilled there?
Answer: Calvados