Next up in the CLASS Report is the brandy category. These are the bestselling brands in the UK's best bars.
Here in the best bars in the UK, brandy has traditionally meant cognac. And within that – to a large degree – cognac, means Hennessy, Martell, Courvoisier and Rémy Martin. This quartet of houses near the banks of the Charente make up around 90% of global volume, so it’s no surprise to see them at the top of our list. Even less of a surprise is that the mega-brand of brandy, Hennessy, is the best bars’ bestseller.
But it was all very crowded up there at the summit. LVMH’s Hennessy was the top choice in 18% of bars, with 44% saying it was among their top three. Pernod Ricard’s Martell was the bestseller in 15% and one of the three most sold in just under a third. Courvoisier, which has traditionally counted the UK as a top market, was the go-to brandy in 13% and on the podium in 31% of our sample. Rémy Martin, known for its VSOP and XO, was a hair back, with 10% of respondents making it their house, and a further 18% their number two or three.
But cognac isn’t the entire brandy category – far from it. Enter Avallen, the ‘planet-positive’ calvados, which has started to create a buzz around apple brandy. With Avallen doing the marketing you come to realise that calvados is fluent in bartender – its production boasts green credentials and its liquid has a singular, bold flavour.
Given the top four are in a league of their own, finishing fifth makes Avallen the best of the rest. Its numbers suggest the Normandy-produced spirit is finding favour with bars who wouldn’t necessarily stock brandy – 7% said it was their house – while also joining the supporting cast. Almost a quarter of bars polled said it was among their top three brandies. When we asked bartenders what brands most excited them, it was – if we needed any further evidence – Avallen.
In a similar vein, Seven Tails, in sixth, is looking to rejuvenate the not-cognac-but-brandy category. The blend of French brandies aged between five and 30 years and finished in port wine casks has supported the on-trade from day one, with a strategy of building relationships and sales in the UK’s best bars. Impressively, 8% said this was their house brandy, while 15% named it among their top three.
In seventh and eighth are two cognac brands that have always had their roots in the bar trade. Hine was the bestseller in 6% of our sample, and Ferrand cognac 5%. In ninth is the Greek not-technicallybrandy Metaxa, which brings a wealth of oak-aged, rounded expressions at competitive prices. The list is rounded off by Seignette, which is so far a small figure on the radar – we’ll see if it grows next year.
According to our data, brandy is the 10th-largest category in the UK’s best bars, with only half of those polled stocking three or more bottles. It’s not exactly buoyant, according to our respondents, but for the first time in years, there are signs that things are changing. Cognac brands seem a little more engaged after a period of inactivity, and new brandies that started with cocktail listings are now beginning to see volume increases. It’s proof that if you get the liquid and proposition right, there’s headroom for growth.