A potstill brandy from the FINE BRANDY.BY DESIGN™ collection of South African brandies has been awarded the 2011 International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) Worldwide Best Brandy title. The Van Ryn’s 20 Year Old, produced by the Van Ryn’s Distillery near Stellenbosch was declared the top performer in London.

According to the organisers of the competition, in which all entries are tasted blind*, grape brandies were submitted by 19 countries for this year’s event. “Countries as diverse as England and China were awarded silver medals, as well as some countries with a long but unheralded tradition of brandy distillation, such as Armenia and Bulgaria.”

This is the fourth time Van Ryn’s has won the Worldwide Best Brandy title at the IWSC. It is the seventh time the distillery has been judged to produce the finest brandy at an international competition, as Van Ryn’s is also a three-time winner of the International Spirits Challenge (ISC) Best Brandy trophy.

Amongst the other South African FINE BRANDY.BY DESIGN™ brandies also to achieve best-in-class ratings and gold medals on the 2011 IWSC were Van Ryn’s 10 Year Old and Klipdrift Gold, a potstill that came home with gold from the European-based Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, held earlier this year.

“The latest results demonstrate the consistent ability of fine South African brandies to perform outstandingly well irrespective of the international competition, year after year,” said Carrie Sanders, brand manager for FINE BRANDY.BY DESIGN™.

She added that the newest title, top scores and gold medals on one of the most important platforms for the global spirits industry, affirmed for local brandy lovers that when drinking South African brands such as Van Ryn’s, Klipdrift Gold and Oude Meester, they were enjoying what informed palates considered to be amongst the world’s best.

Amongst the other South African FINE BRANDY.BY DESIGN™ brandies also to achieve best-in-class ratings and gold medals on the 2011 IWSC were Van Ryn’s 10 Year Old and Klipdrift Gold, a potstill that came home with gold from the European-based Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, held earlier this year.

`The IWSC also awarded golds to the portfolio’s Van Ryn’s 12 Year Old and 15 Year Old, another brandy that took gold at the 2011 Concours Mondial.

Oude Meester Reserve 12 Year Old also impressed the judges to earn an IWSC gold, as it had at Concours Mondial.

“As not only cognac but luxury brandy captures the attention of the East, notably China and India, awards such as these help to elevate the status of South Africa as a world-class producer.

“This country’s brandies have an unassailable reputation for excellence with the title of IWSC Worldwide Best Brandy conferred locally no fewer than ten times over the past 13 years. Several international judges have commented that South African brandies are becoming the standard-bearer for quality aged brandies produced outside the AOC regions of France.”

The Van Ryn’s brandies, retailing in South Africa from around R180 for the 10 Year Old Vintage Brandy to approximately R1 200 for the 20 Year Old Collectors Reserve, are available from select spirits stockists across the country, as well as from the Van Ryn’s Distillery. The Oude Meester 12 Year Old Reserve sells for about R350 a bottle and Klipdrift Gold for around R200. Both can be bought from specialist spirits retailers.