The first records of distilled grains spirits appeared in Ireland and Scotland in the 1400’s. Over time, these spirits became known as whiskey, which is the anglicized version of the Gaelic word uisce beatha (Ish-ca Baa-ha) which means water of life. English colonization spread whiskey making it to both Canada and the United States and the types of whiskey they made evolved based on the grains that grew well in those climates and soils. Before the 1800’s, whiskey was largely stored in barrels simply for transportation. But, around the turn of the 19th century, people noticed that whiskey stored in barrels had a better flavor and aroma and so began purposefully aging whiskey before selling it. As distilling technology improved, it expanded the variety of whiskey styles that could be made to match the preferences of the drinking public.
Fruit brandy can be made in any country, though there are a number of protected styles that can be made only in particular countries or regions.
The majority of fruit brandies are fermented and distilled from a single fruit to capture its purest essence and then bottled unaged. However, even with this generalization, brandy made from apples is often aged and made from a blend of apple varieties to add complexity during the maturation process. While both column stills and pot stills can be used to make fruit brandy, unaged eaux de vies are usually double distilled in a pot still to retain as many of the volatile aromas and flavors as possible.
A historic term that describes the process of making a spirit from apple cider through “jacking.” Jacking was a technique to separate water from alcohol through freezing. Water freezes at a warmer temperature than alcohol so some cider makers would take advantage of this by putting a barrel of cider out during the winter. When the temperature dropped below 32 degrees F / 0 C, some of the water in the cider would freeze and float to the top, the cider maker could then scoop off the layer of ice and repeat to gradually increase the alcohol concentration of the “spirit” without using a still. Today, almost no one makes apple brandy by using jacking, but the US Government allows apple brandy (made through distillation) to be labeled applejack.
A regional style of fruit brandy made from apples and sometimes pears in Normandy, France. There are three sub-regions of Normandy that have their own rules (appellation d'origine contrôlée) that govern how calvados is made in those regions. The fruit must be harvested in the fall and winter, fermented into cider, distilled (either in a pot or column), and then aged for a minimum of 2-3 years before bottling.
A German style of fruit brandy made from cherries. Kirshwasser translates literally as cherry water and can sometimes be labeled simply as kirsh. Historically kirsh has been made by double distilling a batch of fermented morellos, a type of sour cherry. After distillation, kirsh is usually bottled around 40% ABV and drunk neat in small stemmed glasses. Since 1980, a small and growing number of US distilleries have been selling excellent examples of kirshwasser.
A central and southeastern European term for plum brandy usually distilled from the damson plums. Slivovitz derives from the Proto-Slavic word for plum and is most commonly found in Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia as well as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. In the US, slivovitz has found a home in cities with large populations of central and southeastern European immigrants.