The etymology of the word derives from the abbreviation of the English brandywine, in turn translated from the Dutch brandewijn, i.e. burnt wine (distilled). The Dutch in the seventeenth century were the most active merchants of wines and spirits, and they obtained supplies along the Atlantic coasts, from France to Portugal, to export them to England and throughout Northern Europe.
The first literary evidence of the term dates back to 1622: in the English comedy Beggar’s Bush attributed to John Fletcher we read the words «Buy brand wine».
Another testimony is found in the Roxburghe Ballads of 1650: «it is more fine than brandewine». It therefore seems that at the time the term was already in current use for the wine distillate. Even today in the United Kingdom brandy is used to indicate cognac.
