Cognac

Cognac is a town of about 20,000 people in the Charente department of southwestern France. The region produced thin, acidic white wine that didn't travel well—a problem when your main customers were Dutch and English merchants shipping across the sea.

In the 1600s, Dutch traders began double-distilling the wine to reduce its volume for shipping—a process they called brandewijn ('burnt wine,' the origin of 'brandy'). The plan was to add water back at the destination. But someone tasted the distilled spirit after it had aged in oak barrels during the voyage, and discovered it was extraordinary on its own.

The geography of Cognac turned out to be uniquely suited to producing fine brandy. The chalky soil, the particular grape varieties (Ugni Blanc), and the aging in Limousin oak created a spirit of unusual smoothness and complexity. By the 1700s, Cognac had become the world's most prestigious spirit.

French law now strictly controls what can be called Cognac—it must be produced in the defined Cognac region using specific methods. The town name became a protected geographical indication, a legal fortress around a word. You can make brandy anywhere, but you can only make Cognac in Cognac.