South African Brandy Wins World's Best Brandy for a Second Year!

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A South African brandy has done it again; winning the World’s Best Brandy for the second year in a row. We’ll drink to that!

Global (23 May 2024)—A South African brandy has got the country celebrating once again after it was named the World’s Best Wine Brandy for a second consecutive year at the 2024 World Drinks Awards!

Van Ryn’s 15-year-old Potsill Brandy has been awarded World’s Best Wine Brandy yet again, beating fierce competition from France, Spain and Australia.

Other South African brands also put their best drinks forward; earning spots in the silver and bronze categories; including Klipdrift and Richelieu, as well as KWV VS brandy who also claimed gold in the aged 4-5 years cohort.

What Are the World Drinks Awards?

Each year, the World Drinks Awards aims to celebrate the very best in the global drinks industry, with the World Brandy Awards category recognising the finest brandies from around the world, tasting each entry blind and scoring the brandies according to nose, palate and finish, balance, character, complexity, and overall quality.

For Van Ryn’s, this win marks the 4^th time in 5 years that the brand has been awarded this title. In 2020, their 12-Year-Old Potstill Brandy achieved the same title, followed by their 20-Year-Old Potstill Brandy in 2022, and most recently their 15-Year-Old Potsill Brandy award in 2023 and 2024.

What is Wine Brandy?

Wine Brandy is made from distilled wine and matured in French Oak Barrels. The Van Ryn’s Potstill Brandy range is made in the same specialised production methods used for the production of Cognac – the name Cognac, however, is reserved only for brandies made in southwest France.

The panel of international judges praised the winning brandy as “A graceful liquid with notes of liquorice and toffee and the thick creaminess of clotted cream. Stone fruit on the palate, as well as a drizzle of golden syrup and some residual tannic fruit.”

Master Blender Marlene Bester, says achieving the World’s Best title twice in a row is definitely a highlight for the team. “Year-on-year our brandies receive the World’s Best accolades, showcasing our commitment to innovation, quality and the art of crafting exceptional brandy, building on our reputation as one of the world’s leading fine brandy houses.”

Marlene adds that the secret ingredient is time.

“We allow our brandies the luxury of maturation for several years, quietly developing their complex layers of flavours during their slumber. Although we lose approximately 3% of volume per year to the Angel’s Share, the result is an incredibly smooth brandy that rewards in character and quality.”