Expert Advice on Enjoying Fine Brandies

Everything You Need to Know about Brandy

When it comes to distinguishing a fine brandy from an ordinary schnapps – either when making a purchase in a store or when enjoying a drop in a restaurant with your meal – you should employ all of your senses. Only a careful test utilizing your sense of smell, of sight, and of taste will enable you to appreciate the true quality of a fine brandy:

1. The Visual Test

Most brandies and aqua vite have a clear, clean, and often colorless appearance. But if a brandy or a fruit grappa turbid / cloudy, this is evidence of a mistake in distillation or formulation. However, the drink's color – specifically: the golden hue of barrel-aged fine brandies – is a desirable quality and stems from the oak wood of the casks.

2. The Olfactory Test

Before drinking your beverage, smell its bouquet. A drink's aromas say a lot about its origins. Odors and alcoholic scents reminiscent of paint or glue – e.g., the typical odor of household paste – reflect components stemming from the foreshot. Foul or weedy odors come from the "feint." Such odors from the foreshot or feint are just as much a sign of inferior quality as the overly alcoholic and pungent scent of a low-grade whisky.

3. The Gustatory Test

As important as visual and olfactory inspection are, the true potential of a fine brandy becomes apparent only upon tasting. To properly taste a brandy, take a good mouthful, let it swish around your tongue and palate, and then swallow. Good brandies can be recognized on the palate and by their finish. They should have a full body, intense flavor, density, and proper degree of saturation. Their clean taste should have staying power on the palate.

Group Tours and Guided Distillery Tours

Sales Outlets for Our South Tyrolean Schnapps and Specialties in Trentino / Alto Adige

Business Hours and Availability of the Walcher Spirits Shops in South Tyrol