Klipdrift Premium Brandy
£34.00
£45.33 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 4 bottles available
South Africa's best-loved brandy, and once you taste it you'll understand why. Klipdrift Premium is smooth, generous and warming, with layers of cedar, tobacco and baked apple that unfold slowly in the glass. Sip it neat after dinner, pour it over ice, or lengthen it with cola for the classic Cape long drink.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
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Our Verdict
We stock a lot of South African spirits, but Klipdrift Premium earns its place for one simple reason: it's the real thing. This is the brandy poured at braais from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and drinking it here in the UK is the closest most expats will get to being back on the stoep. At 43% and three years in French oak, it punches well above its price for a sipping brandy, and it makes a properly thoughtful gift for anyone with a Cape connection. Stock moves quickly on this one, so grab a bottle when you see it.
Tasting Notes
Pour a measure and the nose opens with amber warmth: cedar, sweet pipe tobacco and a curl of warm baking spice, wrapped around orchard apple and toasted walnut. The palate is full-bodied but poised, layering dried fig and vanilla against a savoury oak backbone from three years in French barrels. Double distillation in copper potstills gives it that silky texture, and the finish is long and supple, gently spiced, with a soft caramel echo that keeps you reaching for another sip.
Cedar and tobacco
A savoury, gently smoky top note that gives the brandy its grown-up, after-dinner character and unmistakable depth.
Apple and walnut
Crisp orchard fruit lifts the mid-palate, while toasted walnut adds a nutty richness that rounds everything out beautifully.
Warm baking spice
Cinnamon, clove and a whisper of nutmeg from the French oak, adding gentle heat rather than fire on the finish.
About This Wine
Klipdrift is to South Africa what a good single malt is to Scotland: a national habit, a genuine icon, and the bottle that comes out when friends gather. Premium is the one that started it all, distilled in Robertson since 1938 and still the country's best-selling brandy. If you've spent time in the Cape, this taste will bring you straight back. If you haven't, this is where to begin.
It pours a deep amber gold. On the nose you get cedar, sweet pipe tobacco and warm baking spice, with orchard apple and a hint of walnut underneath. The palate is full-bodied but properly smooth, thanks to double distillation in copper potstills and a minimum of three years resting in French oak. The finish is long, supple and gently sweet, with none of the heat you sometimes get from younger brandies.
Drink it however you like it. Neat in a tulip glass after a big meal, over a single rock of ice on a slow evening, or stretched with cola for the drink Cape locals simply call a brandy and coke. It's also outstanding with dark chocolate or a strong espresso.
Sending a bottle to a South African expat who's a long way from home? This is exactly what they're missing. Delivered to your door anywhere in the UK.
Food Pairing
This is a brandy for slowing down. Pour it neat as an after-dinner sipper, or over a single large ice cube if you want it to open up. For an easy long drink, top with cola and a wedge of lemon, the classic South African serve known as a Klippies and Coke. It flatters dark chocolate, a wedge of fruit cake, roasted almonds, or a rich espresso to round off a meal.
- —Neat in a warmed snifter after dinner
- —Over a large ice cube with a twist of orange peel
- —As a long drink with cola and lemon (Klippies and Coke)
- —Alongside dark chocolate or a slice of fruit cake
- —With a strong espresso to finish a meal
How to Serve
Temperature
Serve neat at cool room temperature, around 18-20C, or over a single large ice cube to soften the spice.
Glass
A tulip-shaped snifter or copita concentrates the cedar and spice aromas; a heavy tumbler works well over ice.
The Winemaking
Klipdrift Premium is double-distilled in copper potstills, the traditional route to a richer, more textured brandy than column stills can deliver. The spirit then rests in French oak for a minimum of three years, drawing out cedar, warm spice and a mellow, supple weight. That patient maturation is what turns clear distillate into the amber-gold liquid in the glass, softening the edges and layering in tobacco, apple and walnut nuances without ever tipping into heaviness.
About the Producer
Klipdrift
Klipdrift's story begins on a Western Cape farm in 1938, when the very first drops ran off the still at 8:02 one warm evening. The name stuck, the farm gave the brand its identity, and a friendship between neighbours became part of the folklore. Nearly a century on, Klipdrift sits comfortably among South Africa's most recognisable brandy names, produced today under the umbrella of the country's largest distiller. The philosophy has stayed refreshingly simple: make an honest, smooth, full-bodied brandy that people actually want to share. It's a fixture at Cape braais and family gatherings for a reason, and the Export bottling is the one built to travel.