Forbes
Armenian Vineyards in the Ararat Valley below Mt Ararat
Armenia is a small country in the south Caucasus nestled in between the Anatolian Peninsula and the Caspian Sea. Along with its northern neighbor, Georgia, the region is believed to be the birth place of wine. Although it is likely that the different families of grape varieties had multiple independent centers of origin, the oldest historical evidence of winemaking, going back some 6,000 years, is found in this region.
The region was conquered by Russia during the 19th century, and the historic region of Armenia was divided between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. The country enjoyed a brief independent existence from 1917 through 1920, before it was eventually incorporated into the USSR as the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Armenia declared its sovereignty and became an independent republic in 1991.
According to local legend, Armenians have been distilling wine into brandy since the 12th century. There is little definitive evidence of this. There is some evidence of alcohol distillation occurring in what is now Lebanon and Iran during this period, so it is conceivable that the knowledge of distillation also made it to Armenia at that time. If true, then the production of brandy in Armenia predated alcohol distillation in Spain and France by several centuries.
During the late 19th century a thriving brandy industry developed in Armenia. Taking advantage of the popularity of Cognac in Russia; a consequence of the anti-German, Franco-Russian alliance that preceded World War I, Armenian Brandy was also labeled Kanyak, the Armenian spelling for Cognac. A practice that continues in Armenia, Russia and some of the other former Soviet republics.
For a brief time, one Armenian producer, Nikolay Shustov, did have the right to label his brandy as Cognac. Shustov was the official supplier of Armenian brandy to the court of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. His company, Shustov & Sons, eventually became the Yerevan Brandy Company, Armenia’s largest brandy producer.
At the 1900 Universal Expo of Paris, Shustov & Sons’ brandy, was selected as the best brandy in a blind judging, beating out stiff competition from Cognac’s leading producer and earning the reward to legally call their product Cognac. That right, however, was revoked after the end of WW II. The Armenian government unsuccessfully lobbied the EU for permission to use the term Kanyak on its brandy in 2013.
The cellars of the Yerevan Brandy Company with maturing brandy casks
During the communist period, Armenian wine grapes were designated primarily for brandy production. Roughly a quarter of all of the brandy produced in the Soviet Union came from Armenia. At the Yalta Conference in 1944, Joseph Stalin was reputed to have plied Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt with copious quantities of an Armenian brandy produced by the Yerevan Brandy company called Dvin.
Legend has it that Churchill was so smitten with Armenian brandy that he arranged with Stalin for a regular supply to be shipped to him. That story, however, is contested by Churchill biographers. By 1946, Churchill’s comments about the Soviet Union were unlikely to have persuaded Stalin to send him cases of Armenian brandy. Churchill’s usual brandy was Cognac from Hine.
Brandy production is still a big business in Armenia. Yerevan, the country’s capital, boasts more brandy distillers per capita than any other city in the world, including Cognac.
The largest Soviet-era brandy distiller, the Yerevan Brandy Company, was sold by the Armenian government to French spirits giant Pernod-Ricard in 1999. It is the most common brand of Armenian brandy found abroad and is today exported to over 20 countries.
The country currently produces around 20 million liters, about 5.7 million gallons, 90 percent of which is exported.
There are several interesting features about Armenian brandy production. First, it only utilizes indigenous grape varieties. Armenia has over 200 indigenous grape varieties, most of which are very old and few of which have been studied by ampelologists.
By law, the only grape varieties that can be used for brandy production are Voskehat, Garan Dmak, Mskhali, Kangun and Rkatsiteli—the latter is a Georgian grape variety. Grapes are grown widely in Armenia, with the best coming from western Armenia in the Ararat Valley, beneath Mount Ararat. Grapes are also used to provide the alcohol base for fruit vodkas and unflavored vodkas.
The brandy is produced using a double distillation process that uses Charentais stills, the same type of still that is used in Cognac production. Maturation occurs in casks made from Caucasian oak, Quercus macranthera.
This species, also called Persian oak, is part of the family of white oaks and grows in the Caucasus and surrounding region. There are over a hundred-different species of white oaks, only a handful of them, however, are used for maturing wines and spirits.
Caucasian oak is believed to impart flavors of dried fruit, dried herbs, as well as vanilla and chocolate notes. All of which are aroma and taste elements closely associated with Armenian brandy.
Below are tasting notes from two Armenian brandies that can be found in the United States.
A bottle of Ararat Akhtamar, 10 YO brandy
PHOTO, COURTESY YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY
Ararat Akhtmar, 10 YO, 40% ABV, 750 ml, average retail price $35-$40
The color is a rich mahogany. On the nose, there is a distinctive dried dark fruit sweetness, followed by exotic tropical spices with notes of vanilla and butterscotch. On the palate, the brandy has a rich, creamy texture with notes of raisins, figs, apricots and a hint of pear. The finish is long, with dried fruit sweetness and cinnamon notes along with a bit of toasted oak.
The style is more reminiscent of Spanish brandy produced in solera and matured in ex-sherry casks than it is of French Cognac. Although not easy to find, at an average retail price of around $35, it represents an outstanding value.
Kilikia XO, 10 YO Armenian Brandy
PHOTO, J MICALLEF
Kilikia, XO Extra, 10 YO, 40% ABV, 750 ml, average retail price $40-$45
Kilikia is the name given to Little Armenia. The region was settled by Armenians between the 11th and 14th centuries who were fleeing the conquest of Armenia by the Seljuk Turks. The region in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean opposite Cyprus was known as Cilicia. Kilikia is the Armenian spelling. Today that region is part of Turkey.
The color is a rich mahogany with a reddish cast. On the nose, there are floral aromas followed by dried fruit notes of raisin and fig and a hint of waxiness.
On the palate, the brandy is exceedingly smooth, featuring dried and tropical fruit notes of raisin, fig and prune, along with hints of coffee and chocolate and a little cinnamon. There is a well-integrated wood note that hangs in the background, accompanied by a pepperiness that builds towards the end.
The finish is medium length, featuring sweet, dried fruit notes and some pepperiness.
Both of these are outstanding brandies with extremely attractive pricing. Although not easy to find, they are well worth the search effort. For a guide to retailers that stock the brands see winesearcher.com.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemicallef/2018/04/12/exploring-the-world-of-armenian-brandy/#232611ff58d9
