Singani is a Bolivian eau-de-vie or brandy distilled from white Muscat of Alexandria grapes. Only produced in the high valleys of Bolivia, it is the country's national distilled spirit and considered part of its cultural patrimony. Singani has been produced since the 16th century shortly after the Spanish arrived in South America. It was first distilled by monastic orders who needing sacramental wine found it expedient to also distill. Most sources say the name singani derives from a pre-Columbian village of that name near the mission that first distilled the liquor. While its production methods and drinking characteristics more closely resemble eaux-de-vie, it is treated as a brandy for purposes of international trade. It has since been declared a Domain of Origin (Denominación de Origen or DO) and a Geographical Indication (GI) by the Bolivian government. Since the 1990s, formal Bolivian regulations have codified what has long been practiced, and the vineyards from which singani is made are to be planted at elevations of 1,600 m (5,250 feet) or higher. Singani is thereby known as an altitude product in Bolivian legal terms, the official phrase "of altitude" being also applied to Bolivian wines and grapevine cultivars. Although there are vineyards at elevations much higher than the official minimum, they are difficult to manage, and most production comes from plantations at around 1,800 m (6,000 feet) above sea level close to where the wineries and distillation facilities are located. Etymology Linguistic evidence suggests that the word “singani” arises from the native Aymara language word “siwingani”. Because the Latin-alphabet representation of Aymara sounds is approximate, this word is alternatively spelled as “sivingani”, “siwinkani”, and similar variants. Sivinga or siwinga is the word for “sedge” (family Cyperaceae), a riparian plant found in Andean valleys protected from weather extremes. The suffix “ni” means “the place of”, which thereby becomes “the place where sedges grow”. With the advent of European settlement, the native word was reduced through syncope (phonetics) to “singani”. There are various such placenames in Bolivia, historically and today. It is currently not clear which site first became known for producing singani liquor, although there are at least three probable candidates. The common thread of the etymon is the prehistoric native placename, followed by pre-Columbian settlements of that name at these locations, the founding of missions at those locations, the production of wine, the rise of haciendas with that placename, the production of