Ladismith 8 year old Cape Brandy

An exceptional 8 year old Cape Brandy, produced from Klein Karoo grapes, distilled and matured to perfection for 8 long years in the finest oak barrels.

Recent Awards

- Michelangelo 2018 Gold
- Los Angeles International Spirits Competition 2018 Gold
- New York International Spirits Competition 2018 Gold
- The Spirits Business Brandy Masters 2018 Gold

A Perfect Cape Brandy

The proud culmination of terroir, artisan skill and pure brandy making passion.

The rugged and arid region of the Klein Karoo on the Cape South Coast of South Africa provides the perfect terroir for Colombard Grapes to thrive and produce a truly remarkable and unique Cape Brandy.

The grapes are picked just before they ripen to produce the highest quality brandy base wine. The wine is then double distilled in a custom designed and hand built pot still, further contributing to the individual brilliance of this Cape Brandy.

After the second distillation, the crystal clear spirit is then aged in small oak barrels for a minimum 8 years. When it is deemed ready, the brandy master creates his final blend, and releases it in limited quantities of 1000 bottles per year.

Tasting Notes

On the nose, Ladismith displays dried fruit, apricot and citrus. In the mouth, a symphony of tropical fruit abounds with full flavoured banana and litchi followed by more subtle floral notes and a hint of red berry. The swallow is soft, complex and well balanced, with a lovely lingering dried fruit finish.

The Ladismith Story

The historic ups and downs of a small Karoo town and its age old ties to brandy making.

A Town Is Born

Ladismith was formally founded in 1851, when a large portion of the farm Elandsvallei was purchased, subdivided and developed. It was named after Lady Juana Smith, the Spanish born wife of the then Governor of the Cape, Sir Harry Smith. It was later renamed Ladismith in 1879 to avoid confusion with Ladysmith town already established in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.

The Ostrich Feather Crash

Over the years, the town experienced the ups and downs of agricultural roulette, with much of its fruit and vegetable crops being uprooted to farm Ostriches, during the height of the global feather craze. While this brought riches to the town for a number of years, when the market for Ostrich feathers finally crashed, so too did the economy and prosperity of Ladismith.

Co-operative Recovery

In order to address the economic troubles of the town, The Ladismith Co-operative Winery was formed in 1939 as a means to service the distilling needs of surrounding farms, with dwindling resources. This brandy was then sold on for further distillation and sale by the brandy authorities. At its height, the co-operative reached upwards of 150 members, and included a cheese farm.

The town reverted to its traditional strengths of grape growing, wine making and brandy distillation, to help drive its dwindling economy forward in the toughest of economic times. The distillery still exists today and continues to do what it always has, produce the highest quality Cape Brandy.

A Working Distillery

The Ladismith Distillery is today an entirely modern winery and brandy distillery, producing millions of litres of wine and brandy each year. The majority of the distillation is done in column stills, and used for bulk sales and export, but once a year a small pot-still is fired up to distill just enough of the highest quality base wine that will one day mature and become the finest Ladismith 8 Year Old Cape Brandy.