Whats a tops brandy for a chrissie present? Should be expensive enough that the person wouldnt normally consider it to buy for themselves.

The sort that you dust off, have a glass for a special occasion and put away again till next time. Or dont brandys work like that?

Also pref to buy online and from Oz, or maybe on order for one of the franchise liquor stores/woolies.

XO

St. Agnes XO ’7 Star’ Brandy is deeply coloured, full-bodied and extremely complex brandy. The long maturation in small oak hogsheads has achieved an unsurpassed mellowing of the brandy. The marriage of spirit, wood and time has produced an aromatic brandy with subtle “rancio” aromas evident. The palate is smooth, dry and long in flavour with a nutty oak aftertaste. It is a brandy that because of its complexity, finesse and elegance is the benchmark of Australian aged brandies. While its minimum age is 20 years, some portions of this extraordinary brandy are 50 years of age.

A prodigious winner of medals and trophies at local and European Wine Shows, St. Agnes Brandy is Australia’s most highly awarded premium brandy. It has on occasions won a World Championship Trophy and is recognised for its consistently high quality. A truly remarkable spirit, it is an outstanding brandy to be savoured slowly so that the senses can appreciate the multitude of characters rising from deep within.

http://www.angove.com.au/wines/33/st-agnes/xo/

I was in the same position – and decided on something a little special from a known brand.

http://www.cognac-expert.com/uploads/images/Cognac/Remy-martin-vsop-cognac-fine-champagne-mid.jpg

Ended up in our collection but haven’t tried it yet.

What’s wrong with an Australian brandy?

roughbarked said:

What’s wrong with an Australian brandy?

Nothing. I think Bubbles’ suggestion looks pretty tops.

Brandy seems to have a stigma about it in Australia. Blokes don’t drink it. Personally I love it with some dry, but oh well ….

I quite like brandy, possibly because my mother used to give me the spoon from brandying the Christmas cake mix. I’ve had St Agnes before, but a cheaper one. It was fine for what I do with it, sloshing over strawberries, having a spoonful in a glass of warm milk. Presently I have about an inch let in a bottle of Dorville which Mr buffy bought for me quite a long time ago. I don’t use if often, so a 700ml bottle lasts years. I might look at the better level of St Agnes for my next bottle.

Dropbear said:

Brandy seems to have a stigma about it in Australia. Blokes don’t drink it. Personally I love it with some dry, but oh well ….

:) the blokes that do drink it have the ready made excuse.. I need it as a heart starter.

I enjoy brandy now and then and nearly always buy Australian. The ordinary green-label St Agnes is a pleasant drop but so is Black Bottle.

Brandy goes particularly well with dark chocolate, smoked almonds, strong cheeses etc.

I prefer a good brandy to blended scotch.

Bubble Car said:

I enjoy brandy now and then and nearly always buy Australian. The ordinary green-label St Agnes is a pleasant drop but so is Black Bottle.

Brandy goes particularly well with dark chocolate, smoked almonds, strong cheeses etc.

yes the run of the mill St Agnes works for me too …

never liked brandy, scotch on the other hand…

Boris said:

never liked brandy, scotch on the other hand…

brandy should be drunk sitting in a large leather chair, in front of a fire, wearing a smoking jacket with a hound at your feet.

Arts said:

Boris said:

never liked brandy, scotch on the other hand…

brandy should be drunk sitting in a large leather chair, in front of a fire, wearing a smoking jacket with a hound at your feet.

…out of a proper brandy glass.

And to my earlier question can they be opened and put away without detriment? Or more like a wine?

http://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/16610

indefinitely, apparently..

Skunkworks said:

And to my earlier question can they be opened and put away without detriment? Or more like a wine?

Yes, anything with 39- 40% alcohol will keep well :)

I’m obviously not an expert as my palate is poor, but I keep brandy for years. This bottle here is 37%, so it’s not very likely to go off quickly.

nelson keep well in a barrel of it.

kept

we need to have a virtual brandy appreciation night then ;)… Friday night drinking club ;)

Arts said:

Boris said:

never liked brandy, scotch on the other hand…

brandy should be drunk sitting in a large leather chair, in front of a fire, wearing a smoking jacket with a hound at your feet.

/needs a dog/

Arts said:

brandy should be drunk sitting in a large leather chair, in front of a fire, wearing a smoking jacket with a hound at your feet.

need a smoking jacket..

make mine a double

Get them a bottle of Brandivino, you wont here from them again.

We just looked fro a bottle of brandy at the Aldi-type place. they have wine, wines from Australia, California and more, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer etc, whiskey, tequila, tequila, tequila, tequila, tequila, tequila (you get my drift. No brandy :(

This is she.

http://thebill.wikia.com/wiki/Viv_Martella

Brandy is to wine what whiskey is to beer.

I usually only have brandy in desserts, like chocolate mousse or fruit cake, but I’ll also substitute rum into those.

Angus Prune said:

Brandy is to wine what whiskey is to beer.

I usually only have brandy in desserts, like chocolate mousse or fruit cake, but I’ll also substitute rum into those.

Yea…not likely to put decent brandy in deserts/cooking…similar with wine.

>Brandy is to wine what whiskey is to beer.

What’s that supposed to mean.

I love beer, I mean really love, hell, I’d marry it if I could. Yet I can’t stand whiskey (or whisky). Horrible muck.

Same with wine, I love wine. Can’t stand brandy. Horrible muck.

>Yea…not likely to put decent brandy in deserts/cooking…similar with wine.

It’s not a good idea to put bad booze into your cooking :)

Actually even the cheapest of the St Agnes range is decent drinkable brandy, as is Hardy’s Black Bottle.

>Horrible muck.

SPIRITS FAIL

<FONT COLOR="LIME"> hell, I’d marry it if I could.</FONT>

so if you married it would it be a woman or a bloke?

sibeen said:

>Brandy is to wine what whiskey is to beer.

What’s that supposed to mean.

Well, whiskey is distilled (unhopped) beer, essentially. And brandy is distilled wine.

I havent gone a googling yet though the St. Agnes XO ’7 Star’ Brandy sounds like a goer. A numbered edition and presentation box was something I was thinking of as well.

But the thread has given me a couple of other ideas, to include a good quality brandy balloon, and as a joke, I should be able to get in the big smoke a cheap pair of tartan slippers and a red cravat to add.

of course, for authenticity, the person also needs to be living in a mansion or a castle.

Skunkworks said:

But the thread has given me a couple of other ideas, to include a good quality brandy balloon, and as a joke, I should be able to get in the big smoke a cheap pair of tartan slippers and a red cravat to add.

Don’t forget the ever-classy bubble-blowing pipe.

>good quality brandy balloon

Don’t get one of those gimmicky giant cartoon ones. An ordinary brandy snifter is best.

Bubble Car said:

>good quality brandy balloon

Don’t get one of those gimmicky giant cartoon ones. An ordinary brandy snifter is best.

aye, the joke would be in the slippers and cravat, the brandy glass would be normal and usable. Hopefully from the same place I end up ordering it, that way it will already be packaged for mailing.

Skunkworks said:

Bubble Car said:

>good quality brandy balloon

Don’t get one of those gimmicky giant cartoon ones. An ordinary brandy snifter is best.

aye, the joke would be in the slippers and cravat, the brandy glass would be normal and usable. Hopefully from the same place I end up ordering it, that way it will already be packaged for mailing.

Red velvet smoking jacket as well?

Angus Prune said:

Red velvet smoking jacket as well?

I could look into an op shop but that will be as far as it goes, and I can see me not bothering to do that.

Bubble Car said:

>Yea…not likely to put decent brandy in deserts/cooking…similar with wine.

It’s not a good idea to put bad booze into your cooking :)

.
Absolutely. A poor wine has poor flavours, that you don’t want in your food.

Always use a great wine for cooking.

And up there was references to a smoking jacket. I am reading Dreadnought by Robert Massie and all is explained, in Victorian times it was rude to smoke in front of ladies and rather uncouth and vulgar to smell of smoke, so smoking jackets protected the clothes from the smell, plus I suppose burns if there were too many after dinner brandys.

But now another question, Dreadnought? Spell checker got that for me, I spelled it naught thinking nautical. Why nought? Last?

Stand down, wiki explains, dread nought, ie dread nothing.

Skunkworks said:

And up there was references to a smoking jacket. I am reading Dreadnought by Robert Massie and all is explained, in Victorian times it was rude to smoke in front of ladies and rather uncouth and vulgar to smell of smoke, so smoking jackets protected the clothes from the smell, plus I suppose burns if there were too many after dinner brandys.

But now another question, Dreadnought? Spell checker got that for me, I spelled it naught thinking nautical. Why nought? Last?

Fear nothing.

They also had a fearnought suit for firefighting, I think.

Got a bottle St Agnes green label today :)

Angus Prune said:

Skunkworks said:

And up there was references to a smoking jacket. I am reading Dreadnought by Robert Massie and all is explained, in Victorian times it was rude to smoke in front of ladies and rather uncouth and vulgar to smell of smoke, so smoking jackets protected the clothes from the smell, plus I suppose burns if there were too many after dinner brandys.

But now another question, Dreadnought? Spell checker got that for me, I spelled it naught thinking nautical. Why nought? Last?

Fear nothing.

Cheers. I always get the spelling of astronaut wrong unless I think nautical so was working off that.

The “fear nothing” classification was a comment on their improved armour etc – supposedly unsinkable.

It was written on the side of the Titanic.

Bubble Car said:

The “fear nothing” classification was a comment on their improved armour etc – supposedly unsinkable.

Yeah,. I was thinking dread of the seas, or those nautical parts of it…or something along those lines. A tops book, I am only 2 chapters on and it is very readable and giving me an understanding of the importance of European royalty and its ties to political leadership tensions prior to WW1. Always three against five it seems, France, England, Germany (or Prussia), Austria and Russia all shifting alliances.

Skunkworks said:

Bubble Car said:

The “fear nothing” classification was a comment on their improved armour etc – supposedly unsinkable.

Yeah,. I was thinking dread of the seas, or those nautical parts of it…or something along those lines. A tops book, I am only 2 chapters on and it is very readable and giving me an understanding of the importance of European royalty and its ties to political leadership tensions prior to WW1. Always three against five it seems, France, England, Germany (or Prussia), Austria and Russia all shifting alliances.

I’m reading a history of Europe with similar themes, but in the 1700s. It puts England in the seat of trying to maintain the balance of power, allying with Prussia, the Netherlands and Austria against France and Spain, with France against the Netherlands, with France and Austria against Spain, with Russia against Sweden, with Sweden against Russia, with France and Spain and a host of minor German states against Austria, Prussia, and Russia…and all within the space of about 20 years, so far.

>>I’m reading a history of Europe

Good luck and God speed.

There were plenty of those old Sherlock-Holmes-type stories where if a certain missing document isn’t found and destroyed within 48 hours, the whole of Europe will be at war. People seemed to take it for granted that wars were fought for more-or-less incomprehensible reasons.

Bubble Car said:

There were plenty of those old Sherlock-Holmes-type stories where if a certain missing document isn’t found and destroyed within 48 hours, the whole of Europe will be at war. People seemed to take it for granted that wars were fought for more-or-less incomprehensible reasons.

Ha, was reading about some of Bismarks secret treaties. They were all at it. Plus the royal marriages which further complicated things.

Skunkworks said:

Bubble Car said:

There were plenty of those old Sherlock-Holmes-type stories where if a certain missing document isn’t found and destroyed within 48 hours, the whole of Europe will be at war. People seemed to take it for granted that wars were fought for more-or-less incomprehensible reasons.

Ha, was reading about some of Bismarks secret treaties. They were all at it. Plus the royal marriages which further complicated things.

More complicated for England, because George was already the ruler of Hanover in Germany and had to rule both, in parallel, with separate ministries and trying not to look like he was using England’s resources for Hanoverian goals and vice versa.

Bloody hell, Hennessy Paradis Extra Rare Cognac, only $650 a bottle at Dan Murphys.

And a few pages over Martell L’Or de Jean Martell at only $4700 but they throw in free delivery.

Skunkworks said:

And a few pages over Martell L’Or de Jean Martell at only $4700 but they throw in free delivery.

complete with a full complement of cheerleaders?

And the winner is Hennessy XO Cognac because it has won 2 awards and is at a good price point, enough to be special without being ridiculous, $195.

There were some fancy bottles amongst them including one the looked like a violin, but to my cynical mind you might have been paying more for the glassware than the contents.

Skunkworks said:

And the winner is Hennessy XO Cognac because it has won 2 awards and is at a good price point, enough to be special without being ridiculous, $195.

There were some fancy bottles amongst them including one the looked like a violin, but to my cynical mind you might have been paying more for the glassware than the contents.

Yeah, I may see if I can pick some up myself.

Skunkworks said:

And the winner is Hennessy XO Cognac because it has won 2 awards and is at a good price point, enough to be special without being ridiculous, $195.

There were some fancy bottles amongst them including one the looked like a violin, but to my cynical mind you might have been paying more for the glassware than the contents.

In the game, we call it value adding.

Johnny Walker have a Diamond Jubilee for about $150,000. I’m sure thats not a marketing gimmick :)

Skunkworks said:

And the winner is Hennessy XO Cognac because it has won 2 awards and is at a good price point, enough to be special without being ridiculous, $195.

There were some fancy bottles amongst them including one the looked like a violin, but to my cynical mind you might have been paying more for the glassware than the contents.

This raises an issue: That which we call brandy is not necessarily what others call brandy. I asked for a brandy and dry in Germany once and the waiter would not do it. He set the two things in front of me but refused to mix them. Small wonder, as what he called brandy was in fact Cognac, a completely different thing. And it tastes terrible mixed with anything.

So, there is the type of brandy that we use here as a mixer, and there is Cognac, sometimes referred to as brandy, but designed to be sipped.

morrie said:

This raises an issue: That which we call brandy is not necessarily what others call brandy. I asked for a brandy and dry in Germany once and the waiter would not do it. He set the two things in front of me but refused to mix them. Small wonder, as what he called brandy was in fact Cognac, a completely different thing. And it tastes terrible mixed with anything.

So, there is the type of brandy that we use here as a mixer, and there is Cognac, sometimes referred to as brandy, but designed to be sipped.

I nose nuzzling about all that but sipping sounds good. I did avoid the Greek brandys though. Just sounded wrong.

morrie said:

This raises an issue: That which we call brandy is not necessarily what others call brandy. I asked for a brandy and dry in Germany once and the waiter would not do it. He set the two things in front of me but refused to mix them. Small wonder, as what he called brandy was in fact Cognac, a completely different thing. And it tastes terrible mixed with anything.

So, there is the type of brandy that we use here as a mixer, and there is Cognac, sometimes referred to as brandy, but designed to be sipped.

That’s new to me. I thought that the terms were simply interchangeable like whisky and Scotch.

morrie said:

Skunkworks said:

And the winner is Hennessy XO Cognac because it has won 2 awards and is at a good price point, enough to be special without being ridiculous, $195.

There were some fancy bottles amongst them including one the looked like a violin, but to my cynical mind you might have been paying more for the glassware than the contents.

This raises an issue: That which we call brandy is not necessarily what others call brandy. I asked for a brandy and dry in Germany once and the waiter would not do it. He set the two things in front of me but refused to mix them. Small wonder, as what he called brandy was in fact Cognac, a completely different thing. And it tastes terrible mixed with anything.

So, there is the type of brandy that we use here as a mixer, and there is Cognac, sometimes referred to as brandy, but designed to be sipped.

Good points.. I’d class cognac as a liqueur.

pommiejohn said:

morrie said:

This raises an issue: That which we call brandy is not necessarily what others call brandy. I asked for a brandy and dry in Germany once and the waiter would not do it. He set the two things in front of me but refused to mix them. Small wonder, as what he called brandy was in fact Cognac, a completely different thing. And it tastes terrible mixed with anything.

So, there is the type of brandy that we use here as a mixer, and there is Cognac, sometimes referred to as brandy, but designed to be sipped.

That’s new to me. I thought that the terms were simply interchangeable like whisky and Scotch.

Whisky and Whiskey

I love brandy hard sauce.

Mother dearest asked me to make it for the family plum pudding when I was about 15…….good grief that was fun :)

roughbarked said:

morrie said:

Skunkworks said:

And the winner is Hennessy XO Cognac because it has won 2 awards and is at a good price point, enough to be special without being ridiculous, $195.

There were some fancy bottles amongst them including one the looked like a violin, but to my cynical mind you might have been paying more for the glassware than the contents.

This raises an issue: That which we call brandy is not necessarily what others call brandy. I asked for a brandy and dry in Germany once and the waiter would not do it. He set the two things in front of me but refused to mix them. Small wonder, as what he called brandy was in fact Cognac, a completely different thing. And it tastes terrible mixed with anything.

So, there is the type of brandy that we use here as a mixer, and there is Cognac, sometimes referred to as brandy, but designed to be sipped.

Good points.. I’d class cognac as a liqueur.

Yes, it could be considered a liqueur.

Form the fount of all knowledge:

Cognac ( /ˈkɒnjæk/ kon-yak ; French pronunciation: ​), named after the town of Cognac in France, is a variety of brandy. It is produced in the wine-growing region surrounding the town from which it takes its name, in the French Departements of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
For a distilled brandy to bear the name Cognac, an Appellation d’origine contrôlée, its production methods must meet certain legal requirements. In particular, it must be made from specified grapes (see below), of which Ugni Blanc, known locally as Saint-Emilion, is the one most widely used at the present time. The brandy must be twice distilled in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in French oak barrels from Limousin or Tronçais. Cognac matures in the same way as whiskies and wine when aged in barrels, and most cognacs are aged considerably longer than the minimum legal requirement.

So Cognac is a subset of brandy

My recollection of Cognac when I was in France was that it was drunk like shooters, small shot glass and skolled.

roughbarked said:

Whisky and Whiskey

Scottish and Irish is what those two mean.

pommiejohn said:

roughbarked said:

Whisky and Whiskey

Scottish and Irish is what those two mean.

Nods.

roughbarked said:

pommiejohn said:

roughbarked said:

Whisky and Whiskey

Scottish and Irish is what those two mean.

Nods.

One needs must think a while on history.

>So, there is the type of brandy that we use here as a mixer, and there is Cognac, sometimes referred to as brandy, but designed to be sipped.

AFAIA, most Australian brandies are traditional pot-stilled brandies identical to cognac in their distillation & ageing etc. The difference would be in regional drinking habits – you don’t mix fine cognac with anything else. And I personally never mix any decent Oz brandy with anything else. Brandy is for sipping on its own out of a proprer brandy glass, perhaps with a little supper :)