Shakmat 23 Year Old takes its name from the Armenian word for chess, and this Armenian brandy plays the long game twenty-three years in Caucasian oak before bottling at 80 proof. Four indigenous grapes go into the still: Kangun, Kakhet, Garan Dmak, and Rkatsiteli, a recipe rooted in the konyak tradition that once had Winston Churchill requesting regular shipments after Yalta. The years read clearly in the glass dried plums and raisins, walnut, clove, tobacco, and molasses, with vanilla and black pepper on the fade. Batches run about 3,500 bottles, and a portion of proceeds funds reforestation through the Armenia Tree Project. Reach for it where you would pour an aged Cognac: after dinner, neat.