Peinado Solera 12 Years Brandy

Peinado represents the knowledge of waiting, ageing, the necessary time of rest, silence, harmony...

The town of Tomelloso is located in La Mancha (Ciudad Real). Here, Juan Antonio Peinado began distilling local wines in his cellar in 1820 using a small alquitara to make excellent brandies.

This was the beginning of a history of painstaking dedication to making top quality products. The hollands used in his brandies were the same hollands which supplied the Charante region in France during the Phylloxera epidemic in the late 19th century, which prompted the use of the term "Coñac Español" during a large part of the 20th century. However, the unique dynamic ageing system using soleras and criaderas to achieve a uniform product results in a truly different brandy. The type and duration of ageing produce different types of brandy with different qualities, aromas and flavours.

Two very important factors are involved in making Brandy Peinado; the raw material and the human element which moulds the former to endow it with the personality that sets our brandy apart from other brandies. Our brandy is neither better nor worse than other brandies; it's simply different.

The raw material used is a wine spirit with an alcohol content not exceeding 70%, traditionally called "holandas" after the fine Dutch linen that was used to filter it. This is an essential prerequisite to obtain top quality brandy and one of our main concerns is selecting the finest spirits.

"Holandas" are obtained by distilling wines made with healthy Airen grapes, most of which come from the Tomelloso area. Distillation is carried out in "alquitaras", traditional copper still pots which are placed above an oak-wood fire, which provides constant, abundant heat.

The use of copper alquitaras is very important, as this metal acts as a catalyser for certain chemical reactions, prompting special interactions between the alcohol being produced and the residues of the wine being distilled. Hundreds of different chemical reactions take place in the still pot -some understood and others unknown- to give the holandas their characteristic bouquet.