The increasing prevalence of fraud in the high-end spirits market calls for tools that are fast, reliable and can be used directly throughout the supply chain.

Dwapanyin and colleagues demonstrate how through-bottle spectroscopy can become a valuable tool for both quality control and verification of the authenticity of Cognac and Brandy.

The technique combines Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy in an optical configuration that allows the contents to be analysed without opening the bottle, almost completely reducing interference from the glass. The result is a cleaner and more representative signal of the product, while preserving its integrity.

The results show that the method distinguishes the main Cognac ageing classifications with high accuracy, identifies the year of bottling and differentiates products from different brands. A particularly interesting aspect is that the performance remains unchanged even with bottles of different shapes or glass compositions, making the technique also effective in detecting fraudulent practices such as filling premium bottles with lower-value spirits. The study also highlights the potential of the technology for quality control. The analyses detected spectral changes in the samples stored at 35°C, distinguishing them from those kept at 20°C and 25°C and indicating possible alterations due to suboptimal storage conditions. Finally, the system correctly identified 98% of the counterfeit samples, confirming the potential of through-the-bottle spectroscopy as a rapid, non-destructive solution suitable for protecting the supply chain of high-value spirits.

Bibliographical references: Dwapanyin G.O. et al. Through-bottle spectroscopy as a tool for quality control and anti-counterfeiting of Brandy and Cognac. Università di St Andrews e Jas Hennessy & Co., preprint arXiv, 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22099