The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Brandy
BRANDY, the name commonly applied to
the spirit distilled from the juice of the grape,
but also given to liquors distilled from other
fruits, such as apples, cherries, peaches, etc.
All these brandies differ from each other only
in the essential oil which they contain and
which gives to each its different flavor and
aroma. The alcohol in brandy generally
constitutes 50 per cent of the whole, the remaining
substances being water, amyl, propyl and
isobutyl, alcohols, glycerol, etc. A brandy
highly esteemed is Cognac, exported from
southwestern France, and obtained by distilling white
wines of the finest quality. An inferior kind of
spirit is frequently prepared from the “marc”
of grapes and the refuse of wine vats. When
first distilled it is as colorless as alcohol, and
continues so if kept in bottles or jars. When
stored in casks, however, it acquires from the
wood a pale amber tint, and in this state is
sold as pale brandy. The dark color of brown
brandy is produced artificially, to please the
public taste, by means of a solution of caramel,
and this is frequently added in excess to give a
rich appearance to a brandy of low quality. A
large proportion of the brandy sold in the
United States is simply raw grain spirits
flavored and colored. The spirit is imported into
France, where it is redistilled and converted
into French brandy. Brandy improves in flavor
by being kept but loses in strength. Of late years
the development of viticulture in the western
States, particularly in California, has
enabled American enterprise to produce a brandy
that is a formidable rival to the French article.
Imitation brandy is prepared either by flavoring
highly rectified spirit with essence of Cognac
or by distilling the spirit with bruised prunes,
acetic ether, argol and a little genuine brandy
and adding to the distilled spirit tincture of
catechu and spirit coloring. See ;
; ; .