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TREAT YOURSELOF: TRY POTSTILL PRODUCTS

We take brandy for granted in SA.

While artisanal gins, craft beers and now rums have South Africa in their grip, locally produced brandy seems sometimes to get left behind.

It’s not that the product is bad, or that there’s no market for it – considering the popularity of cognac in some circles – a lot has to do with perception.

Speaking to a few people over the past three weeks while taking part in two brandy tastings, one thing has become apparent: people associate brandy with something that’s made to mix with cola and they’re very stubborn to change that.

The problem that trickled in is that most people are unaware how brandy is died, labelled and, ultimately, how it changes in taste.

Yes, brandy made to mix with soda is popular, and rightly so. That’s one of the ways it’s made to be enjoyed.

But when you get down to it, as a nation, South Africans can do a lot to change their prejudice around brandy by introducing their palettes to potstill brandy which is made the same way as French cognac.

“We take brandy for granted in South Africa,” Distell brandy ambassador Nick Holdcroft said recently.

He was referring to the fact that the country is lacking in a brandy culture. While many will happily pour themselves cognac, brandy remains on the shelf.

Even though, internationally, South African brandy is a dominant force, bringing home countless trophies from wine and spirits shows.

For Holdcroft, the only difference between cognac and brandy is taste.

“Cognac tends to be a little spicier and nuttier, while brandy is a little sweeter and fruitier,” he notes.

The other real difference is price. South African potstill brandies can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of rands.

Distell is the seventh largest