Brandy is a curious liquor. It has a great rep, thanks to Cognac, but it doesn't get out much. Marilyn Monroe often used to sneak out at night, pick up some guy, and then afterwards stun him with "You've just slept with Marilyn Monroe!" Her fame got in the way of her accessibility. Shame.
Though as we all know, the fame of neither is unjustified, and remains unsullied. One of the most spectaclar and satisfying mixed drinks is the Sidecar. And equally as attractive, nearly, is its apres ski half sister, the Stinger. The key to both is a breathtaking sharpness, one from lemon, the other from mint. Brandy is a Shakespearean actor, Olivier will do for imagery. Always elegant, unforgiving in his standards. Hard to hang with unless you loosen him up a bit.
And so the challenge with brandy, mixed not sipped, is to find a complementary, but lesser, light to show it off. Mostly these are fruit brandies - same lineage but more sociable: apricot brandy, maraschino, and curacao. Occasionally herbal accents will also work, white vermouth, gin, benedictine, chartreuse, and even absinthe. Brandy is nearly neutral and so is accepting of these companions. Whiskey has a similar time finding dates, maybe even harder because it is aged in new barrels while brandy is aged in softer old ones.
So, the first section of Brandy drinks on the spread sheet are again Spirit + bitters, mostly orange because straight bitters tend to compound the hardness of brandy. Great for a bracing aperitif.
The next two sections focus on the heart of Brandy drinks: Spirit + a fruit brandy partner. It is interesting to drink the sidecar - fruit accent with acid - along side the Scaffa - fruit accent with bitters. Though I adjustment for the Scaffa - 3-1 brandy over maraschino - for the comparison to work. Together I imagine them to be the Nick and Nora Charles of brandy drinks.
The following sections of the herbally Gin and White Vermouths provide interesting insight into the blind sides of spirits. I've come to appreciate the true genius of White Vermouth over the past couple of years as I use it with darker spirits, such as brandy and even rum. It tends to dilute their intensity and create a light experience for those times you want what you want but not quite as much - "hug me, yes but don't touch me dear" . . . you know what I mean??