Buy Armagnac Brandy Online

ARMAGNAC………this is a French brandy known as number two when compared to its near neighbour COGNAC.

Most devotees of fine brandy will tell you they are certainly different, but undeniably equals. The two brandies utilise in the main different grapes and armagnac's base wine is made from a blend of several grape varities, while cognac is produced mainly from one variety Ugni Blanc. The variation in distillation and maturation techniques all lend to their differences. Although another similarity between both brandies, is that, most of what is produced is blended, with a primary objective of providing customers with consistant and reliable quality brandies year in year out.

Armagnac (Brandy of D'Artagnan) is produced in the Pays de Gascogne region in the South West of France. The area is made-up of three sub-regions………"Bas-Armagnac," "Tenareze" and "Haut-Armagnac." Some experts like to compare the three sub-regions, others will compare the individual Armagnacs of the producers collectively from within all three regions.

A good pointer to quality are the label designations of VS, VSOP and XO which are the same for both Armagnac and Cognac. Another quality indicator can be the vintage of an Armagnac, the vintage or age should represent the number of years the brandy has been maturing in wood. Armagnac styles and taste can vary enormously from one producer to another and a VSOP from one producer can taste superior to a XO from another distillery, but much is down to one's own taste profile when selecting a good quality Armagnac or Cognac.

Alexander Hadleigh Wine Merchants, Southampton, Hampshire, UK do offer a wide and varied selection of Armagnac brandies, including VS, VSOP, XO, vintage and aged. Our fine Armagnacs from all three sub-regions will match and suit most budgets and are available online or from our Southampton Wine Shop.