Brandy originated in Europe in the early 16th century when Dutch wine merchants decided to remove water from the wine for trade. By removing water, it allowed the merchants to ship more wine with less taxes since they had limited space in the cargo. The origin idea was to add water back to the import once it reached its destination. The Dutch called this liquor “burnt wine”, also called brandewijn. When the liquor was opened after a long period of time, the wine merchants discovered that the wine wasn’t wine any more - but a brand new spirit with a different taste, color, and aroma. From there, the brandewijn became what it is now known as brandy.
The unethical issue concerning this new liquor is that the merchants continued to sell them as wine and not brandy. This is a problem because without the water, the brandy contains 50 percent alcohol.
