Tag: Brandy

Reisetbauer Apricot Eau-de-vie

Happy Halloween, or as others know it, the final day of eau-ctober. I couldn’t find a pumpkin eau-de-vie so I settled for another orange fruit: apricot. This is the second in a series of two apricot eau-de-vie reviews, both from Austria. Next year I’ll have to review apricot spirits from elsewhere in Europe.

Reisetbauer produces a wide range of spirits distilled from malt, fruit, and even carrot, and all seem to be fairly well-regarded. Their website states that it takes 15g of apricots to produce one liter of brandy, which is roughly 3x what the Blume said they require. In theory this should produce a spirit that does an even better job of capturing the apricot flavor than the Blume did.

Smell: One sniff and it’s apparent this is an entirely different animal than the Blume. Not necessarily better or worse, but very different. It is incredibly pungent with sharp notes of fresh lemon verbena, lime, and Thai green mango salad. It has an almost absinthe quality to it. Initially there are some raw ethanol notes that blow off with some airtime.

Taste: Lemon and herbs once again. There are some accompanying fruity flavors as well, including apricot, but the lemony herbal thing is really what stands out. Is this a delightful new flavor of Ricola? It should be. Mouthfeel is medium.

Finish: The lemon becomes less herbal and more like candied Meyer lemon peel. There is also fresh cinnamon.

Overall: This doesn’t really scratch my apricot itch but it is unique and tasty. How these flavors came from apricots is beyond me. I would love to eat whatever apricot they used to make this, it is probably much different than the varieties grown near me (and perhaps not really intended for fresh eating at all).

Spirit Type: Eau-de-vie
Proof: 84
Vintage:
Age: 0
Cask Type: None
Rating: B

Blume Marillen Apricot Eau-de-vie

After two consecutive plum reviews, let’s move to a new fruit: apricot. I’ve had a soft spot for apricot eau-de-vie since traveling through the countryside of Montenegro, where I was fortunate enough to try some exceptional homemade apricot rakija. Though just as commercial Silvovitz cannot compare to the homemade variety, it seems unlikely that store-bought apricot eau-de-vie can compare to the more rustic versions made by many families in The Balkans.

Not surprisingly, there are few apricot eau-de-vie available in the US, but of those, the Blume has a solid reputation. From their website: “Blume Marillen—”blossom of the apricot”—captures the lovely bouquet and taste of the Klosterneuburger apricot found in the Wachau region of the Danube Valley. The Destillerie Purkhart “Blume Marillen” is famed for its delicate floral bouquet and a long, elegant finish. More than 9 pounds of apricots are distilled for each 750ml bottle.”

Smell: Sweet kumquats and tree-ripened apricot. After that there is a little bit of a soapy note and just a kiss of fresh basil.

Taste: The apricot is prominent but there is a fresh lemon note as well. There is also some spice, namely cinnamon and nutmeg, that helps add depth. Mouthfeel is medium.

Finish: It remains fruity here but becomes more bitter and earthy with apricot skin, a hint of moldy fruit, and a little wet cardboard.

Overall: This does a pretty good job of capturing the essence of the apricot while also not being boring. Certainly the apricot flavor could be stronger and the finish longer and cleaner. I imagine it’s difficult to get fruit flavor to shine through into distillate, so it may be necessary to make wider cuts, which increases flavor but can also lead to some less desirable flavors (e.g. soap, cardboard).

Spirit Type: Eau-de-vie
Proof: 80
Vintage:
Age: 0
Cask Type: None
Rating: B+

Clear Creek Blue Plum Brandy

Clear Creek Distillery produces two different plum brandies, one made from Mirabelle Plums, which I reviewed three days ago, and one made from Italian Blue Plums. The latter is the subject of today’s review.

Italian Plums are bluish purple and are, I think, what many people call “prune plums”. They have very good flavor at peak ripeness when their flesh is still very firm and sweet. They bear some physical resemblance to the plums grown in much of Eastern Europe for the purpose of making homemade slivovitz, though I think those are more closely related to the Damson type.

Smell: Fruity and wonderful. There are plum notes, for sure, but also many candy fruit notes. Every original Jolly Rancher flavor seems to be represented.

Taste: Fresh prune plums galore. There is just the right level of sweetness to compliment the fruit flavor but not so much that it becomes cloying after multiple sips. Mouthfeel is medium.

Finish: Becomes slightly more tart and tannic here giving the impression of plum skin, which really rounds out the whole plum experience.

Overall: This is really good stuff, and I actually slightly prefer it to the Mirabelle. I wish that 1. The palate had the depth of the nose, and 2. I could try this at the proof it came off the still instead of 80.

Spirit Type: Eau-de-vie
Proof: 80
Vintage:
Age: 0
Cask Type: None
Rating: B+

Clear Creek Mirabelle Plum Eau-de-Vie

I’m back after a long hiatus due to my 10-year-old laptop finally committing seppuku. It is gone but it died with honor and respect. My new whipper snapper of a machine has yet to earn its stripes, but it was cheap and available now, just in time for Eau-ctober. I have been celebrating all month but was not able to express my excitement to all my loyal readers so I am now committing to posting at least 4 eau-de-vie recipes before the end of the month.

Up first is the Clear Creek Mirabelle Plum Eau-de-Vie. This is what you need to know about this one: Clear Creek is a well-established and reputable distillery in Oregon, Mirabelle is a plum varietal developed in and grown mainly in the Lorraine region of France (is this Mirabelle de Metz or Mirabelle de Nancy? Nobody knows), and eau-de-vie is an unaged fruit brandy. The term “eau-de-vie” is French as most delicious things are and it supposedly translates to “water of life” in English but I don’t know enough French to validate that.

Smell: Huge aromas of ripe plum, floral apricots, and a little bit of harsh ethanol. With time the spirity harshness fades and this becomes soft as a pillow, and still fruity, with pear and turbinado sugar added.

Taste: The plum is certainly front and center here. A little harsher than expected for the relatively low ABV but it is unaged after all. Fruity for sure but does not have the depth that the nose did. Medium mouthfeel.

Finish: The plum fades and the taste become more dry like apricot skin. The end is very clean and slightly fruity.

Overall: Well made but doesn’t capture the essence of the fruit as much as I would have hoped. I expected higher-toned and more floral, fruity notes throughout.

Spirit Type: Eau-de-vie
Proof: 80
Vintage:
Age: 0
Cask Type: None
Rating: B

Copper & Kings Pear Brandy, Single Cask for BevMo

Copper & Kings started off sourcing high-quality pot-distilled brandies from all over the country and creating their own unique spirits from them by further aging, finishing, and blending them to meet their desired flavor profiles. While they are distilling their own brandies now, it seems they have not completely stopped hunting for brandy treasures elsewhere (or at least they hadn’t as of late 2018 when this hit shelves). According to the proprietor of C&K, this is “sourced pure Oregon Pear Brandy. Average age is over 10 years with the oldest first distilled in 1996. It was aged in a variety of barrels. We blended it together and have it being polished in toasted, uncharted new American oak barrels. The barrels are 60 gallons (wine barrel size). We wanted the barrels to integrate the profile, and pear brandy is very, very delicate – so everything we do with pear will be uncharred.” The distillery is not disclosed but it is thought to have been a recently shuttered distillery that obviously needed to offload their stock (possibly Brandy Peak Distillery in Brookings, OR, but can’t be sure). Once the source brandy was all blended and allowed to meld in the 60-gallon barrels, each barrel was sold off as a single cask. Since my beloved K&L decided not to purchase a cask of this, I had to slum it and head to BevMo.

Smell: Pear skins followed closely by some funky Marc or grappa notes and then some soggy wood. If I didn’t know anything about the provenance I would guess this was distilled from fermented pear skins.

Taste: Concentrated, intense pear skin completely envelops the palate. There’s also a hint of clove, but it is really all about the pear here. If I listed anything else I’d be reaching. Nice, full mouthfeel. Drinkable and enjoyable at full strength.

Finish: More of a whole pear thing going on here with both the skin and the juicy flesh, but it’s still fairly tannic and mouth-drying. At the end is a slightly oxidative note that I usually get from wine- or sherry-finished spirits and which I don’t usually like but works ok here.

Overall: It’s hard to overstate how much this spirit captures the essence of fresh, ripe pears. It’s also hard to rate something this unique. The lack of depth would be an issue in most spirits but here, if there was more depth, it would probably taste less like pears. Would I rather it have more going on but not capture the pear flavor as well? No, I wouldn’t. I wish I could have tried the individual parts/casks before they were all blended together, it would have been interesting to taste and smell how it all came together.

Spirit Type: Other Brandy
Proof: 109
Vintage:
Age:
Cask Type: French Oak (Reused)
Rating: B+

Domaine du Promenoir Calvados Hors d’Age 1998

I purchased this bottle directly from the producer at a farmers market in Normandy a few years back. At the time they had a few vintages to sample: this 1998, one from the early 90s, and one from the late 80s. We sampled all of them and this was the fruitiest, so I bought it. Let’s see if I made a good decision. 

Smell: sweet ripe apple then some astringent wood and acetone. After several minutes in my glass, there’s baked peach and a musty note as well.

Taste: starts with sweet (but not suspiciously so) apple, transitioning quickly to tart apple. Some some oaky bitterness creeps in too. Texture is just a tad thin.

Finish: Apple skin and seeds. Fairly tannic. Ends very dry, almost like apple pulp that has had all the juice pressed out of it.

Overall: No bells or whistles, just well-made, unadulterated apple spirit aged in decent French oak casks that still had a bit of life left in them. This almost certainly had some water added to reduce the bottling proof, but I’m glad they didn’t take it all the way down to 80.

Spirit Type: Calvados
Proof: 84.2
Vintage: 1998
Age: 18
Cask Type: French Oak (Reused)
Rating: B