(TDB) - In the sixth of our Power Brand roundups we take a look at the world of brandy which, despite battling a continued slowdown in China, has seen several brands maintain their grip within a challenging market.

Taking data from 2013, the The Drinks Business Power Brands Report, compiled by the drinks business together with Intangible Business, sees the world’s most influential wine and spirits brands pitted against each other to determine the world’s most powerful. In a list dominated by Cognac, a category which experienced a generally bad year thanks to China’s continued slowdown, Hennessy has stayed positive thanks to its strong position in the robust US market.

Despite problems caused by the Chinese market, earlier this year the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC) described sales of Cognac as “reassuringly high” in 2013.

In 2013 the category’s total volume sales dipped by 4%, however value sales increased by 0.2% for the same period which the BNIC said indicated that strong demand still exists for luxury Cognac.

In total, the BNIC reported that 2013 exports to the Far East saw a 10% volume decline to 56 million bottles and 4% value decline to €1.1 billion.

Despite this significant slip, the organisation noted that the far east remains “the most important export market for Cognac in terms of volume and value.”

The US and Africa were instead responsible for buoying an otherwise sluggish Asian market with exports to North America rising by 2.1% to 53m bottles in 2013 and by 5.3% to €651m by value, while Africa reported an export surge of 26.7%.