Brandy & Cognac Cocktails
Brandy is the widest family in the bar: cognac, armagnac, brandy de Jerez and American applejack are all brandies and none of them taste alike. These are the brandy drinks in this library, with the bottle each one asks for and what the age statement on the label actually means.
Every recipe below names brandy, cognac or applejack in its ingredient list, so the base is never an assumption.
Reading a brandy label
Cognac, armagnac, Jerez or applejack. Cognac is double-distilled from Ugni Blanc in the Charente and aged at least two years in French oak: dry, floral and precise. Armagnac is distilled once in a continuous still, which leaves more weight and a prune-like note that suits a Stinger. Brandy de Jerez ages in a solera of sherry-seasoned casks and arrives rounder and sweeter. Applejack is American apple brandy — Laird's is the reference bottle — lighter and fruitier, and the base of a Jack Rose.
VS, VSOP and XO. The letters describe the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend, not the average: VS means two years in cask, VSOP four, XO ten under the rules in force since 2018, and XXO fourteen. Young brandy is more vinous and floral, which is what a mixed drink wants; long ageing adds oak, dried fruit and rancio, flavours that lemon and orange liqueur flatten. A VS or VSOP cognac is the right bottle for a Sidecar.
Ratio, sugar rim and strength. A Sidecar is 50 ml of cognac, 25 ml of orange liqueur and 25 ml of fresh lemon — older recipes use equal parts, which lands sweeter; shake it hard with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Sugar half the rim only, or every sip turns sweet. A Stinger is 60 ml of brandy and 15 ml of white crème de menthe, stirred over ice and strained, and it is the one brandy drink where a soft, VSOP-level bottle is worth opening. At 40% ABV a Sidecar settles near 26% ABV once shaken and diluted.
Frequently asked questions
Cognac or brandy for a Sidecar?
A VS or VSOP cognac at 40% ABV is the classic answer: enough fruit and acidity to stand beside the lemon, without the oak and rancio of an XO that the citrus flattens. A dry grape brandy works too, and the drink is far more sensitive to fresh lemon than to the label.
What is the difference between cognac and brandy?
Cognac is a brandy with a protected origin: distilled twice from Ugni Blanc in the Charente and aged at least two years in French oak. Brandy is the general term, made from any fruit or wine — armagnac, brandy de Jerez and applejack are all brandies with their own rules and their own character.
Is applejack a brandy?
Yes: applejack is American apple brandy, usually a blend of apple distillate and neutral spirit at around 35% ABV, with bonded bottlings at 50%. That is why the Jack Rose sits in this collection, and why it takes grenadine and lemon rather than orange liqueur.
Other collections
Same library, grouped by what is in the glass.