Ararat
Armenia · Brandy
The most internationally significant spirit in this whole set. The Yerevan Brandy Company was founded in 1887, later owned by Russian merchant Nikolay Shustov, and is now part of Pernod Ricard — distilling wine made from Armenia’s white varieties (Voskehat, Garan Dmak, Mskhali, Kangun, Rkatsiteli) and ageing it in Caucasian oak. The range runs 3/5/6 star, then named expressions: Ani, Otborny, Akhtamar (10 years), Vaspurakan (15), Nairi (20) and Erebuni (25). The story that Stalin gifted Churchill a lifetime supply of Dvin is repeated everywhere and documented nowhere — treat it as folklore.