Louis Roques Prune Brandy

This prune brandy hails from Armagnac country. While Americans often use the term prune to refer to dried plums, in this case, prune refers to a variety of small, purple plums, sometimes called French prunes in the US.

Louis Roque La Vieille Prune Reserve, 42% abv ($45)

The nose has a strong plum note with some floral notes as well. This is very sweet on the palate, almost liqueur like with a strong plum flavor.

This has good plum flavor and is easy to drink, but it's too sweet for my taste.

UPDATE: Serge Valentin from Whiskyfun provided some interesting background on this brandy:

One thing that you might find interesting is that they started to distill these plums after the phylloxera devastated the vineyards. A kind of temporary ersatz if you will, but people started to like this brandy around the beginning of the 20th century and so they went on making it even after the normal production of wine brandy resumed (Armagnac actually lies around 150km away from Souillac, towards the south-west).

Calvados Lemorton 25

Lemorton is probably the best known producer in the Domfrontais region of Calvados. Today I'm tasting their highly regarded 25 year old.


Lemorton 25 yo, 40% abv ($125)

This has a beautiful nose with sweet apple notes and some floral notes. The palate is slightly acidic with apple and then spice fading into a spicy finish which develops a nice, light apple note.

The nose on this is the strongest element. The palate is a bit mundane and it feels a bit watery, though it has a nice finish. While $125 is not an unfair price for a 25 year old Calvados, I don't think I would buy a second bottle of this.

New Whiskey Labels: Jefferson's, Deanston, Tobermory and More

This week's most interesting new labels from the federal TTB database:

Kentucky Artisan Distillers issued two new bourbon labels for the Jefferson's label: Jefferson's Jounrey and Jefferson's New Fill. Both appear to be distilled by Kentucky Artisan.

The importer for Burn Steward whiskies cleared two new labels for distillery bottlings: a 10 year old Deanston with a Pedro Ximenez finish and a 21 year old Tobermory with a Manzanilla finish.

Here's a mysterious one. Pennsylvania bottler Charles Jacquin cleared a label for a new expression of Hochstadter's Rye, a 15 year old straight rye made from 100% rye. Normally, 100% rye mashbill on a sourced whiskey points to Alberta Distillers in Canada, but this label does not state that the whiskey was imported. So, what do we think it is?

Note:  The fact that a label appears on the TTB database does not necessarily mean it will be produced.  In addition, some details on the label, such as proof, can change in the final product.

Sazerac, Remy and Pernod in Bidding War for Guy who Made Whiskey in his Kitchen Last Week

Spirits giants Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau and Sazerac are in a multi-million dollar bidding war over the distilling operation of Ralph Peterson of Boise, Idaho who made a batch of whiskey on his kitchen stove last Thursday. Asked about his operation, Peterson said he used a mash of corn meal, sugar cubes and "whatever else he had around," and distilled it on his stove using two pots connected by a length of garden hose. Peterson admitted that his whiskey was "pretty terrible" and he didn't think he would try making it again, but that all changed once news of his experiment spread and the offers started pouring in.

There was no official comment from any of the bidding companies, but one spokesman anonymously explained, "The spirits industry is really starting to recognize the ingenuity and unique character of craft distilling, and that's what we're looking for. By the way, have you ever made whiskey? Do you know anyone who has?  I've got my check book right here."

As of late Thursday, the bidding was up to $130 million. Peterson said he was considering all of the offers very seriously, and had been in discussions with the competing bidders about his future role.

"I'd like to stay on as Master Distiller or at least work at the gift shop," Peterson stated, "it's really important to me to preserve the integrity of my distillery, er, stove."

Astor Wines Calvados Exclusives: Roger Groult & Montreuil

Today I'm tasting two Calvados exclusives from Astor Wines, both from the Pays D'Auge region. Roger Groult is one of the major producers in Calvados; Montreuil is less well known.

Roger Groult 10, Cask #3, 42% (Astor Wines $75)

The nose has dry apples and spice. The palate is dry and earthy with apple and some burnt sugar notes leading into a spicy and somewhat medicinal finish. This is a nice, dry Calvados - perfect for a winter night.

Domaine Montreuil 15, 42% abv (Astor Wines $85)

There is an apple and cinnamon aroma on this, but it's also slightly metallic. The palate has nice apple and honey notes along with earthy notes that turn medicinal into the finish. Longer into the finish there is the apple/honey from the palate. I like this one.

Both of these were good, but I definitely preferred the Montreuil which seemed to have more going on.

Three Michel Huard Calvados

There are really only two American retailers that matter when you're talking about French brandy: K&L in California and Astor Wines in New York. Now each of them have an exclusive from Calvados producer Michel Huard so I thought I'd compare them along with one Huard's general releases. These come from star importer Charles Neal.

Michel Huard Hors D'Age 90-92-99, 40% ($60)

This is a general Huard release that is a blend of brandies from 1990, 1992 and 1999, ranging from 16 to 25 years old. It has a big apple nose. On the palate, it's quite sweet with apple and spice notes. The finish has cinnamon and baking spices. This one's a bit sweet for me, and not particularly complex, but it's certainly drinkable.

Michel Huard Vieux (K&L), 43% abv ($53)

K&L's entry (pictured) is a blend of seven and 17 year old brandies. The nose is dry with apples and spice. Those notes continue on the palate - apples and spice, along with some new make type notes, and followed by a medicinal note that lingers into the finish where it grows stronger. This is decent but not particularly complex, and the finish is a bit overly medicinal for me.

Michel Huard 1999, (Astor) 16 yo, 43% abv ($80)

This is Astor's pick, a vintage 1999 16 year old. The nose is dry brandy without a lot of distinctive apple. The palate is spicy with light apple that leads to a medicinal finish.

These were three very different Calvados. None of them blew me away, but between the three, I liked the 1999 from Astor the best. It was dry and refined. The 90-92-99 had a totally different character - sweet and apple forward; it was very drinkable. My least favorite was K&L's Vieux which was raw and medicinal compared to the other two.

Serious Brandy

Is one of your New Year's resolutions to drink more brandy?  As I've said before, it's the Golden Age of Brandy, but there aren't a lot of places to find information or reviews on serious brandies. One place you can go is the Serious Brandy Facebook group dedicated to serious brandy reviews and information. And because it's brandy, there's no flipping, no obnoxious "look at what I found and am never going to open" posts and no "how much is this worth" queries. It's just folks drinking and discussing serious brandy, be it Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, eau de vie, Spanish, American, Armenian, whatever.

Join us!