Adrien Camut 6yo

 Adrien Camut 6yo

Brandy: Calvados

From: Pays d’Auge

House: Adrien Camut

Style: Single distillery 

Colour: Amber

ABV: 41%

N: Apples, butterscotch, raisins, orange blossom, hints of chocolate. 

M: Medium body, thickens, syrupy, tingly. 

T: Bitter. Butterscotch, pears, chocolate, raisins, apples, cloves, honey. 

F: Medium. Black tea, coffee, honey, apples. 

Comments:

This little Calvados from Adrien Camut isn’t like its older siblings. Those were floral, quite spirit forward, with some woody, almost dusty notes. This one is a lot younger, less than a third of their ages, and is much heavier. 

There’s a whisper of orange blossom on the nose, but that’s probably the only point of commonality. Instead there are bitter chocolate and coffee notes. Although the mouth feel isn’t heavy, it’s much less subtle than the older ones, with bold flavours. 

Verdict:

I like this. 

NAUD XO

NAUD XO

Brandy: Cognac

From: Grande Champagne

Style: Single distillery

House: NAUD

Colour: Walnut

ABV: 40%

N: Dried figs, raisins, black pepper, chocolate, coffee, sea salt. 

T: Light body, cool, slightly astringent, tingly. 

M: Bitter sweet. Cloves, dried figs, black pepper, olive oil, sea salt, chocolate. 

F: Medium. Black pepper, coffee, sea salt, olive oil, walnut skins. 

Comments:

I really do like NAUD cognac. It’s spicy and sweet, with lots of lovely dried fig notes and a dry tannic bitterness. I gather that the expressions aren’t that old either, to the lower end of the age ranges for each designation. Despite that, they’re complex and subtle, while packing a huge amount of sweetness.

This one also has an oily, slightly salty character to it, which goes very well with chocolate. I nibbled on some dark chocolate with the dregs of my brandy, it offset the complexity of the spirit very well indeed. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Whalebone Cask Aged Brandy

 Whalebone Cask Aged Brandy

Brandy: Australian Brandy

From: Western Australia 

Style: Single distillery

Colour: Amber

ABV: 40%

N: peppermint, red grapes, black pepper, honeydew melons, hints of peaches. 

M: Medium body, tingly, static, cool. 

T: Sweet. Red grapes, black pepper, black tea, peaches, hints of anise. 

F: Medium. Black tea, coffee, black pepper, red grapes, anise. 

Comments:

This brandy is from a whisky distillery, or at least, I think its core product is distilled grain spirit aged in wood. Nevertheless it’s quite tasty, and different from the usual European brandies that I tend to have. I’m not sure there is a style to Australian brandies in the same way that Australian whiskies are developing a style, but it’s distinctive all the same. 

No age statement of course, but that’s hardly unusual. Lots of peppery spicy notes, which is the distinctive bit. It’s quite sweet, which leads me to believe it’s quite young. Exciting hints of anise, something fairly unusual in my experience. 

Verdict:

I like this. 

Pierre Ferrand 10 Generations

 Pierre Ferrand 10 Generations

Brandy: Cognac

From: Grande Champagne

Style: Single distillery

House: Pierre Ferrand

Colour: Bright gold

ABV: 46%

N: tobacco leaf, hazelnuts, sultanas, pineapples, hints of pears, hints of fresh baked bread 

M: heavy body, syrupy, thickens, sticky

T: bitter sweet. Pineapples, fresh baked bread, sultanas, vanilla, honey, peaches

F: long. Fresh baked bread, cinnamon, honey, peaches, hints of tobacco leaf

Comments:

A cognac available only once in 10 generations, as the marketing spiel would have it. It’s not half bad, almost luscious in its mouth feel. Not too many raisins in here, there’s some nutty, slightly woody notes, and a herbal hit of tobacco. Lovely stuff. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Christian Drouin VSOP

 Christian Drouin VSOP

Brandy: Calvados

From: Pays d’Auge

Style: Single distillery

House: Christian Drouin

Colour: Yellow gold

ABV: 40%

N: malted grains, black pepper, apples, honey, hints of banana.

M: heavy body, thickens, slippery, slightly tingly. 

T: bitter sweet. Apples, black pepper, vanilla, barley rusk, hints of fresh baked bread, hints of banana  

F: short. Vanilla, banana, pears, fresh baked bread. 

Comments:

Quite a complex calvados, with cereally notes, some spice and some quite un-calvados like bananas. Quite enjoyable, there’s some aged spirit in this if I’m any judge (of course, there’s a chance that I’m not). 

Verdict:

I like this. 

Frapin VSOP

Frapin VSOP

Brandy: Cognac

From: Grande Champagne

Style: Blend

House: Frapin

Colour: Amber

ABV: 40%

N: prunes, raisins, cinnamon, honey, hints of red grapes. 

M: medium body, cool, slippery, loosens

T: Sweet. Menthol, blackcurrant cordial, honey, cinnamon, red grapes, hints of rolled oats. 

F: Medium. Menthol, blackcurrant cordial, fresh baked bread, cinnamon. 

Comments:

A blended Frapin, but one that displays the same grapey, fruity flavours as the XO I had recently. Hopefully this is the house character. I’m very keen to try more expressions from this house. 

Are there house characters in cognac, just as there are distillery characters with whisky? I don’t know for sure but there seems to be a house style for some brandies. There are relatively few independent expressions of course, so the houses can blend distillate to create a certain style without indies coming in and mucking up their branding. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Uno et Mil Solera Gran Reserva

Uno et Mil Solera Gran Reserva

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

N: Raisins, vanilla, honey, coffee, walnuts, hints of dark chocolate.

M: light body, loose, warm, astringent.

T: Bitter. Honey, dark chocolate, date honey, coffee, hints of iron filings.

F: medium. Honey, dark chocolate, coffee, black tea, hints of orange peel.

Comments:

“One in a million”, this is Sanchez Romate’s entry-level expression of Jerez brandy. It’s lighter than the older expressions, with just a little hint of rancio, presenting as a slightly metallic note on the tongue. It’s quite complex, lots of bittersweet notes, lots of fragrant, almost herbal flavours. 

A solera aging tends to produce this style in whisky, that is, a blend of ‘older’ flavour notes - like rancio and tobacco - as well as ‘younger’ flavour notes - like fruit and nuts. I do enjoy it when I can find it, but it’s relatively rare, for both whisky and brandy. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot.