Brandy and Cognac - Grades and Differences Explained

Coming from whisky, opening a bottle of Camus VSOP threw me a little. The nose was sweet and soft, but the grain note I usually expect from whisky was basically gone. That sent me down the brandy and cognac rabbit hole.

The big structure is not that complicated. The labels are the noisy part. VS, VSOP, XO, Napoleon - those can look like code the first time around. This is the short version I would have wanted before opening the bottle.

The one-line version

Brandy is a spirit distilled from fermented fruit. Cognac is brandy made under the rules of the Cognac region in France.

So all cognac is brandy. Not all brandy is cognac. Hold on to that and the category gets much easier.

What brandy actually is

Brandy is distilled from fermented fruit. The key detail is the raw material: fruit, not grain. If bourbon starts with corn and Scotch starts with barley, brandy usually starts with grapes, though other fruit can be used too.

The name comes from Dutch “brandewijn,” literally “burnt wine.” Distilled wine. Once I saw that, the category made a lot more sense.

By raw material, the main types look like this:

• Grape brandy - the big one. Cognac and Armagnac live here
• Apple brandy - Calvados, from Normandy in France
• Cherry brandy - Kirschwasser, mostly German and Swiss
• Pomace brandy - grappa in Italy, marc in France. Made from the skins and seeds left after winemaking

The one most people are likely to run into first is grape brandy, and within that, cognac.

Cognac has rules attached

Cognac is one type of brandy, but the name is protected. Same way only whiskey that passes through the Lincoln County charcoal mellowing process can be called Tennessee whiskey, cognac has its own rules.

• Region: produced only in the Cognac region of France
• Grape: Ugni Blanc makes up the bulk of it, over 90%
• Distillation: twice, in copper pot stills
• Aging: minimum two years in French oak

The Cognac region is split into six crus. Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne are the famous names near the top, while Borderies is the smallest cru. That is why Camus talks so much about its Borderies estate vineyards on the label.

The letters are minimum age grades

VS, VSOP, XO and the rest can look like alphabet soup, but they are basically minimum-age grades. The youngest spirit in the blend sets the grade.

Grade	Full name	Minimum age	Where it sits
VS	Very Special	2 years	Entry level
VSOP	Very Superior Old Pale	4 years	Solid starting point. Camus VSOP sits here
Napoleon	Napoleon	6 years	Middle ground between VSOP and XO
XO	Extra Old	10 years	Bumped from 6 to 10 in 2018
Hors d’Age	Hors d’Age	10 years (official)	Used for expressions beyond XO

The important detail: the label does not mean every spirit in the blend is that age. VSOP means the youngest component is at least 4 years old. Older stock can be in there too, and often is.

Napoleon

The Napoleon grade started as a marketing line and later became an official grade. The name comes from the story that Napoleon Bonaparte enjoyed cognac. In the lineup, it sits between VSOP and XO.

Worth knowing: Napoleon isn’t cognac-exclusive. Armagnac and other brandies use it too.

How it differs from whisky, coming in from the whisky side

If you are walking in from whisky, the first difference is the direction the flavor comes from.

Whisky is grain-based, so there is usually a malty or grainy backbone underneath everything. Bourbon leans on corn sweetness, Scotch often on barley and nuttiness. Brandy is grape-based, so fruit sits much further forward. Pouring Camus VSOP next to Glenlivet 18 made that contrast obvious. Glenlivet had grain underneath the fruit. Camus was fruit as the structure.

The casks are different too. Whisky mostly uses ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. Cognac leans on French oak - Limousin or Troncais. When I reviewed Angel’s Envy port cask finish I remember thinking it’d land with wine or brandy drinkers - turns out that was the right read.

Proof is the other thing. 40% on a single malt can feel underpowered. 40% on cognac feels normal, and after sitting with a glass for a while, I get why. The point is to spend time with the aroma, and too much alcohol would get in the way.

Where I would start again

If I were picking a first bottle again, I would probably start at VSOP rather than VS. It sits before the prices get too ambitious, but it still gives enough of that soft fruit and oak character to understand the category. XO is interesting, of course, but I do not think it needs to be the first stop.