If you’re not the type of person that enjoys an alcoholic beverage, it can be difficult to determine the differences between brandy and cognac, though connoisseurs find them two of the easiest drinks to tell apart. It is important to note that although there are differences between the two alcohols, cognac is a type of brandy. Below are some of the most notable differences between brandy and cognac.
What is Brandy?
If you’ve ever enjoyed a movie that was set in the past, you’ve undoubtedly seen men enjoying this illustrious beverage out of specialty brandy glasses. Brandy is essentially distilled wine. It was one of the most popular alcohols to be created in all of Europe, particularly France and Holland during the 16th century. It was incredibly expensive to obtain due to the fact that shipping the alcohol took a lot of space on cargo vessels, which were commonly used for war materials. In order to make it more effective to ship, they started to remove the water from the wine by burning it and everyone ended up loving the great flavor. Over the years the people who enjoyed a glass of brandy began to refer to it as burnt wine.
Brandy is available in a wide variety of flavors, some of which are aged for years and are the most expensive bottles that you can buy. You’ll also be able to find less expensive types of brandy, due to the fact that it might not have had a lot of time to age.
What is Cognac?
As a generic name for burnt wine, Cognac is a type of brandy and it is also an area in France. It offers an incredibly rich aroma and taste as a result of the incredibly fertile soil where it is made. Cognac offers such a rich flavor because it has to be aged in barrels for a minimum of 2 years and it has a special process for when it is made. First, wine needs to be extracted from grapes in the Cognac region and then the wine is distilled in a copper pot 2 times in a row. The extract liquid is then put inside of wooden barrels and aged for 2 years at the least.
It is important to remember that calling Cognac a brandy is correct, but it’s also important to know that not every type of brandy is Cognac.
