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SPANISH BRANDY PRODUCERS ARE SET TO RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OF A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE BROWN SPIRITS MARKET AS THEY CAST AN EYE TO THE FUTURE. The leading players are confident they can meet the challenge of a regenerated cognac market and the potential popularity of drinks such as Peruvian brandy pisco. And they argue that the country’s impeccable history and heritage in brandy production and the category’s ability to innovate will secure them a healthy future.

Miguel Torres Maczassek, general manager of Miguel Torres, accepts that Spanish brandy has had its ups and downs, but sees opportunities in the future. “The Spanish brandy segment has a long history and, for a long time, brandy was practically the only distillate consumed in Spain,” he says. 

“In the past years the category has suffered, but we were able to keep growing in our home market. Traditionally the spirit market is subject to fashion cycles, and we have seen that, for example, gin was quite out of fashion for several years, but now gin is back. Therefore we also see some very interesting opportunities for our brandies.”

Traditionally, Spanish brandy has been consumed by men over 45 years old. Attracting a younger drinker is, therefore, one of the challenges facing the sector.

Gonzalo Medina García de Polavieja, international marketing manager at Bodegas Williams & Humbert, says the challenge facing Spanish brandy is to convey to consumers the quality of the drink. He points to the repackaging of the company’s prestige Brandy Gran Duque de Alba.

“We have a product full of history and we cherish its heritage,” he says. “We still need to make the consumer aware of the quality of this spirit. In this sense, the Brandy de Jerez sector is undergoing a moment of change as we are working to establish strategic lines and reposition the category. 

“With the redesign of Gran Duque de Alba and activities such as tastings to show the versatility of this product, we continue working to rejuvenate this category.”

Maczassek at Miguel Torres agrees, recognising a segmentation of the Spanish brandy market, with traditional brandy drinkers going for the more premium brandies, and younger drinkers attracted to its younger brandies. “The younger drinkers in the upper-middle class segment are much more open to experiment and to try new products than, for example, 20 years ago,” he says. 

“So this is a great opportunity for brands such as Torres, with our premium and super-premium brandy portfolio. We see that younger consumers will go more for our classic premium brandies Torres 5, Torres 10 or Torres 15, whereas the more mature ‘connoisseur’ segment will normally opt for our super-premium brandies, Torres 20 or Jaime I. 

“It is, of course, great to see that we are on the right track. Drinks International just published its Brands Report of The World’s 50 Best Bars in which our brandy is in the top 10 ranking of Best Selling Brands and Best Trending Brands,” adds Maczassek.

The producers of Spanish brandy can see two major opportunities as they look to the future. One lies in emerging markets such as China, where cognac has done well but may be vulnerable to Spanish brandy products should China’s economic growth falter again. Certainly that’s the view of Gonzalo Medina García de Polavieja.

The future is promising for Spanish brandy,” he says, “Brandy de Jerez 
is a high-quality product and the challenge is to transmit this quality to the consumer. As for markets, China is an opportunity for our brandy Gran Duque de Alba as the Chinese consumer demands top range spirits and quality brandy as a more competitive alternative to cognac. 

“We have successfully introduced the Gran Duque de Alba range in different provinces in China. The intermediaries are looking for alternatives to cognac at more affordable prices and similar characteristics, but at the same time quality spirits. “The high price of cognac has indeed proved beneficial to Spanish brandy.”

Other producers are looking for a mix of traditional brandy products with heritage and history, alongside innovative products. “We also have specialties such as Torres Spiced,” says Maczassek. This is a brandy distilled from wine of traditional Spanish white grapes, which is then macerated with natural cinnamon and sugar cane and aged in oak barrel. 

“The flavoured version is a good way of bringing dark spirits closer to a younger group of consumers. Torres Spiced is just one of several new projects we are working on with a premium and super-premium focus to attract new drinkers and new segments in the near future.” 

Spain’s brandy producers, then, are embarking on a quest to combine history and heritage with fashion and innovation. Only time will tell if it will work for the category.

 The Brandy Report comes in 12 parts. Folllow the links here Category introduction by Hamish Smith (1/12), Brandy in the Philipinnes by Hamish Smith (2/12), Cognac by Nicholas Faith (3/12), Premium brandies by Richard Woodard (4/12), Armagnac by Ian Buxton (5/12), French brandy by Hamish Smith (6/12), Spanish brandies by Dominic Roskrow (7/8)