1960’s Sanley Centenario Riserva 1842 Brandy 7 Year Old Italian

A Sensational Brandy7, aged for 6 years in oak barrels,

Like the related spirits Armagnac and Cognac from France, Italian brandies have a centuries-old tradition.

The oldest brandy names "Aqua vite" (water of life) and "Aqua vitis" (vine water) come from the vocabulary of the Apennine peninsula. The Italian producers and distilleries naturally use local wine as the raw material for their brandy wine. The Italian brandy is generally a bit stronger, more flowery and harder than the French or German brandy.

Until 1948 it was also often traded under the name Cognac. It was not until the same year that a treaty with France decreed the Italian renunciation of this name. The name cognac was replaced by the name brandy. The distillation and also the storage of the Italian brandy correspond to the valid international procedures. The ladder method is used for some very valuable distillates. The brandies of many vintages are stored in a long row of barrels, sorted according to age. Every year a part is taken from the barrel with the oldest stock.

The freed barrel space is filled with distillate from the second oldest barrel, which in turn gets replenishment from the third oldest barrel and so on. The last, the youngest barrel is finally refilled with fresh wine distillate. This saves you having to equalize and you get a consistent product. (Source: Roland Gööck, high proofs from all over the world, Bertelsmann Verlag)