Armenian Brandy
Ararat Brandy Has a Famous History, Plus a Homemade Cordial!
The Yerevan Brandy Company has been making its famous Ararat Brandy since 1887. Its history - plus traditional, homemade cordial recipe.
Winston Churchill became so enamored of Armenian brandy during his stay at a little place called "Yalta" that he asked then-Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to send him cases of the stuff each year. Rumor has it that he drank Armenian brandy with his famous cigars from then on out. Each year – from 1943 onward, 400 bottles of the brand Dvin were sent to him from Stalin.
Churchill’s recommendation aside, the fact is, Armenians have been producing excellent quality wines, and most especially, brandies for centuries. But commercially, its most famous brand, Ararat, has been produced in the Ararat Valley of Armenia since 1887 by the Yerevan Brandy Company. The brandy, or cognac…or more specifically "cognac-style wine" comes in bottles that have been aged either 10, 15, 18 or 20 years.
Armenian Brandy
Today, Armenian brandy is created from two basic ingredients: the white grapes that grow in the valley’s volcanic soil and spring water from its many streams. During the Soviet era, however, the brandy were made from anything the Soviets could throw in – and both the brand and the wine-making tradition suffered for the practice.
In the 1990s, however, Armenia became an independent nation and the Yerevan Brandy Company – along with many other formerly state-owned enterprises – was privatized again.
That’s where Pernod Ricard, the French drinks conglomerate comes into the picture. Pernod Ricard bought the Yerevan Brandy Company for $ 30 million in the mid-nineties and set about restoring its vitality and its international esteem. Their timing could not have been worse. Almost overnight, the Russian ruble crashed and took the Russian market for the brandy with it. The business dropped by 75 percent in a matter of months, leaving Pernod Ricard holding enough brandy and grapes for something like 40 years worth of sales at its current rate.
To their credit – and business acumen – the French conglomerate hung in and, by 1998,they had raised production (and sales) from 1.7 million litres a year to 4 million litres a year, thogh much of it continued be go to the Russian market.
Not so today. Ararat Brandy is again becoming available throughout the Middle East, as well as Europe and North America, and home-brewed versions of brandies and cognacs are more popular than ever. Here is one cherry-flavored brandy that is commonly made in Armenian homes all over the world:
Armenian Homemade Cherry Brandy
Ingredients:
- Equal Parts- ripe, pitted sour cherries; sugar; cognac, brandy or rye whiskey
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- 1 Tablespoon Whole Cloves
- 2 Whole Nutmegs
- Additional cup of whole, pitted, sour cherries
Method:
- Mix equal parts of cherries and sugar and let stand overnight to macerate.
- The next day, bring the mixture to a boil on the stove.
- Cool and add an equal part of brandy, cognac or whiskey to the cherries/sugar mixture.
- Pour into a jug (a plastic gallon milk jug works well).
- Add the whole spices.
- Seal well and place in a dark cool place (pantry works well) for at least a month, taking care to "shake" the contents to mix well every week or so.
- Pour off the liquid into a nice decanter or sealable glass container.
- Add the cup of whole cherries and decant to serve.
Note: The cherries themselves taste terrific over vanilla ice cream or pound cake, once they have sat in the brandy for awhile!
