Cardenal Mendoza Carta Real

Cardenal Mendoza Carta Real

Brandy: Brandy de Jerez
From: Jerez
House: Sanchez Romate
Style: Single distillery
Colour: Mahogany
ABV: 40%

N: Red grapes, rum and raisin ice cream, walnut wood, date honey, dried apricots, hints of dark chocolate.

M: Heavy body, sticky, thickens, round.

T: Sweet. Prunes, date honey, raisins, cloves, walnut wood, walnut skins, hints of tobacco leaf.

F: Long. Walnut skins, prunes, date honey, dried apricots, dark chocolate.

Comments:

Right, my first venture outside France, in terms of brandy, at least. This is solera aged, with an average age of between 25 and 30 years old, so there's some very, very old stuff in this spirit. It's gloriously sweet, as befits a sherry brandy, and it's also rich and sticky, and round. The last is how I best describe this feeling I get when I smack my lips after wetting them with the brandy - somehow unctuous and lip-coating, as if my pursed lips were rounder.

Sweet flavours abound, of course, but on the nose and on the tongue, there are also some woody notes, and these turn bitter. There's dark chocolate too, accentuating the bitterness, and herbaceous tobacco. In fact, as I smell the empty glass, the woody and herbal notes predominate, becoming almost cedar like. All that fades to a long, bittersweet finish.

Yes, I really do like sherry brandy, despite the fact that sweet spirits aren't usually my thing. I like sweet flavours, like fruit and flowers, but I don't like them to taste sweet, as a rule. But this, well, this is an exception. Highly sugared, with deep layers of flavour, it's wonderful brandy.

Verdict:

Magnificent.