Today's instalment of the CLASS Report takes us to the brandy category at the UK's best bars.
There’s an upstairs, downstairs feel to the brandy table, with our data suggesting about two-thirds of sales at the UK’s best bars derive from the five cognacs at the head of this table. But this top-heavy appearance belies a more nuanced picture – much of the dynamism is coming from below.
But let's start at the top, where the big fish from the Charente – LVMH’s Hennessy – is the choice for 21% of bars, while it’s quite commonly on the back bar. Half of our sample of the UK’s best bars put it among their top-two choices and two-thirds said it was one of their bestselling three.
From here the data concertinas, with four cognacs sharing similar chunks of the market. In this year’s poll Courvoisier – which is starting to reinvest in the UK market under new owner Campari UK – was found to be the second most likely to be in your glass. 17% of bars said it was their preference, with more than a third suggesting it was on their podium of brandies.
It was a similar finding for Rémy Martin, which – perhaps because it is better known for its VSOP and above expressions – was less present as a house pour (it was on the rail in 10% of cases), but was more likely to be a second or third choice (25%).
Hine, led by its made-for-mixing VSOP H by Hine, continues to punch above its house’s weight, seemingly having won a good chunk of house pours (12%), but was less likely to be on the back bar than the big three brands above it in the table. With a long history of association with the UK and a focus in bars, Hine has a following – more bartenders said it was their favourite brandy brand than any other.
Pernod Ricard’s Martell was a hair back, and a top-three brandy in a quarter of bars. It feels like this grand brand, whose Cordon Bleu expression once had a large cult following in the UK, could do with a shot in the arm.
And so to the second half of the table, where there is a drop off in market share, but certainly not energy. Joel Fraser’s Seven Tails, heads the pack, with an increasing number of listings and accounts in the UK’s best bars. Between it, Stephanie Jordan and Tim Etherington-Judge’s calvados, Avallen, and Simon Wright’s London-based Burnt Faith you have the glowing embers in what sometimes feels like a fading fire. They are giving bars a reason to stock more than the obligatory bottle of cognac.
These three British-owned brands share the same challenge – to fill the education void and, in doing so, change bartenders’ perceptions. According to our poll, brandy is now the 10th most-used spirit in the UK’s best bars – underperforming doesn’t cover it. The approach is to respect the traditions and quality of cognac while innovating in a way that would make the bureaucrats of the Cognac Bureau snap their pencils in fright.
Seven Tails XO is a blend of different brandies from across France and aged in port wine casks. Burnt Faith, meanwhile, uses steam-powered pot stills, sources wine widely, disregards age statements and ages in varying casks in an ex-mushroom farm in the Cotswolds. If you want a parallel, brandy is starting to have its world whisky moment.
Avallen is more traditional in its production – it’s a calvados after all – but its marketing is modern, speaking of ecology and sustainability, and the humble apple – its source ingredient. One thing spirits need to take off is a vehicle – a signature serve. Avallen’s Calvados Appletini seems as good a ride as any.
In the spirit of completeness, two other cognacs feature – Sazerac Seignette, which, though five years old, is starting to gain some traction, and Ferrand Cognac, which is a big player in the global pantheon of bars, but has far less of a stake in the UK market.