the library

Brandy

Spirits & brews· spirit

What it is

Brandy is a spirit distilled from fermented fruit, most commonly grapes, and often aged in oak.

What it tastes like

On the nose: whiskey, buttery, almond. Among its measured molecules: syringaldehyde, 1,1-diethoxyethane, ethyl lactate, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, vanillin.

Every one of its 17 compounds carries a paper the library can cite.

• acetic acidaromaacidreads as pungent (PubChem)Measured in 37 of 341 ingredients.cite

  101.8-130.3 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row 'acetic acid', Yantai columns only)
• acetaldehydearomaaldehydereads as pungent, fruity (PubChem)Measured in 18 of 341 ingredients.cite

  21.9-24.1 mg per 100 mL of 100% vol. alcohol across the six aged Brandy de Jerez samples, highest in the new barrels — Valcárcel-Muñoz et al. 2021, Foods (Table 7, row 'Acetaldehyde', the six aged columns)
• 1-propanolaromaalcoholreads as burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 23 of 341 ingredients.cite

  34.0-37.8 mg per 100 mL of 100% vol. alcohol across the six aged Brandy de Jerez samples — Valcárcel-Muñoz et al. 2021, Foods (Table 7, row 'N-propyl alcohol', the six aged columns)
• vanillinaromaphenolreads as sweetish (PubChem)Measured in 12 of 341 ingredients.cite

  3.8-5.8 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies, higher than all six Cognac columns of the same table — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row 'vanillin', Yantai columns only)
• phenylethyl alcoholaromaalcoholreads as sharp burning taste (PubChem)Measured in 42 of 341 ingredients.cite

  6.3-7.2 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies, the lowest values in a table whose Cognac columns reach 31.9 mg/L — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row '2-phenylethanol', Yantai columns only)
• isobutanolaromaalcoholreads as sweet, musty (PubChem)Measured in 24 of 341 ingredients.cite

  226.3-393.2 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row '2-methyl-1-propanol', Yantai columns only)
• ethyl lactatearomaalcoholreads as buttery (PubChem)Measured in 9 of 341 ingredients.cite

  10.6-20.5 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies, against 3.9-8.4 mg/L in the six Cognacs of the same table — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row 'ethyl lactate', Yantai columns only)
• furfuralaromafuranreads as almond (PubChem)Measured in 34 of 341 ingredients.cite

  8.6-13.0 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row 'furfural', Yantai columns only)
• 1,1-diethoxyethanearomaetherreads as whiskey taste (PubChem)Measured in 8 of 341 ingredients.cite

  29.3-32.1 mg per 100 mL of 100% vol. alcohol across the six aged Brandy de Jerez samples — the acetal of acetaldehyde and ethanol, and the third-largest single compound in the table — Valcárcel-Muñoz et al. 2021, Foods (Table 7, row 'Diethyl acetal', the six aged columns)
• syringaldehydearomaphenolMeasured in 6 of 341 ingredients.cite

  0.12-1.59 mg per 100 mL of 100% vol. alcohol across the six aged Brandy de Jerez samples, not detected in the unaged wine spirit — Valcárcel-Muñoz et al. 2021, Foods (Table 5, row 'Syringaldehyde', the six aged columns)
• 2-methyl-1-butanolaromaalcoholMeasured in 15 of 341 ingredients.cite

  30.7-42.0 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row '2-methyl-1-butanol', Yantai columns only)
• ethyl acetatearomaesterreads as fragrant (PubChem)Measured in 43 of 341 ingredients.cite

  488.3-814.3 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row 'ethyl acetate', Yantai columns only)
• isoamyl alcoholaromaalcoholMeasured in 46 of 341 ingredients.cite

  562.5-679.5 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row '3-methyl-1-butanol', Yantai columns CVS/CX10/CX15 only)
• 5-hydroxymethylfurfuralaromaalcoholreads as butter, caramel, musty (PubChem)Measured in 11 of 341 ingredients.cite

  23.8-32.0 mg/L across the three Yantai brandies — Ma et al. 2023, Foods (Table 3, mg/L block, row '5-hydroxymethylfurfural', Yantai columns only)