Ararat Yerevan Brandy Company

The Ararat Yerevan Brandy Company, also called the Yerevan Brandy Company, is located at 2 Admiral Isakov Avenue in Yerevan, Armenia, on the edge of the Hrazdan gorge. The factory was established in 1887 by the Russian-Armenian merchant Nerses Tairyan, and it was soon acquired by Nikolay Shustov, who built the production on the site and promoted Armenian brandy across the Russian Empire. After the Soviet takeover in 1920, the factory was nationalised, and it continued to produce brandy under the Ararat name. A widely repeated story states that Winston Churchill favoured Armenian brandy after being served it at the 1945 Yalta Conference, though accounts of this vary. After independence, the business was privatised and later passed to the French group Pernod Ricard. The complex includes a historic stone-built production hall, aging cellars with oak barrels, a visitor centre, a tasting hall and a small museum documenting the company's history. Tours typically cover the production process, from distillation of local grapes to ageing in Armenian oak barrels, and finish with a tasting of several grades, from young to long-aged spirits. The architecture is industrial with older stone buildings and cellars, and a number of ageing stores keep barrels dating back decades. The factory has been modernised for production while preserving the historic cellars and sections of the original site. Tours are generally conducted by reservation in several languages, and prices depend on the number and age of the tastings. A standard tour takes roughly one to one and a half hours. Visitors should be at least of legal drinking age to join tastings.