My Wandering Eye: Laird’s 12 Year Old Rare Apple Brandy

November 2, 2023 Eric Burke

My Wandering Eye is an ongoing series reacting to the rising prices in the bourbon world. We’ve reached a place where even average products have hit the range where they compete price-wise with other types of aged spirits. If I’m going to be asked to drop $40 to $70 on a mid-range bourbon, I might as well see what else I can get for that money. I hope to see if another spirits category offers something downright tasty in that price range. The goal isn’t to find cheap spirits but to maximize the quality I’m getting at a particular price point. The reviews in this series will all be written through a bourbon drinker’s lens.

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween! I took the day off and spent it wth my wife. We went out for lunch, did some record shopping, did a Costco run, stopped off at Fleet-Farm and then came home to hand out candy to the kids. While we manned the door for the nine kids that braved the cold to wander down our practically lightless street, we put together a puzzle and listened to a few of the records that we had purchased during our day off.

It wasn’t until bedtime that I realized that I had forgotten to write this.

Do you ever do that? You’ve been doing something on a schedule for over a decade and then you just…space it out? Happens to me a lot. I’ll blame it on getting old, but I’m pretty sure those that know me well will attest that this is something that I’ve been doing for decades now. I’ve been a space cadet for almost as long as I’ve been alive.

Anyway, let’s move away from my failings of memory and over to tonight’s…brandy? Yes brandy. I’ve been sitting on this one for a bit now (purchased mid-July) as I worked through all the samples sent to me. Though I love my local liquor stores, not everything is distributed to Minnesota so when I learned about Curiada a few years back (coincidentally while buying another Laird’s product) I’ve kept it in mind as a way to purchase things that either are not distributed here, or are distributed in such low quantities that you need to win a lottery to purchase it. And this 12 year old Apple Brandy fit the bill for that.

Here is what the distillery has to say about it:

Laird’s Rare Apple Brandy is the finest, most elegant expression of the Laird’s Apple product line. The aged barrels used in this exclusive brandy are carefully selected by eighth generation Larrie Laird and Master Distiller Danny Swanson for their exceptional taste and character. When first conceived in 1995, tasters agreed 88 proof was the optimum alcohol percentage to highlight the rich and complex flavors of this fine spirit. After peacefully ageing for a minimum of 12 years in our New Jersey barrel-ageing warehouse, the product is then bottled by hand. Each bottle bares a handwritten batch number, date of bottling and bottle number.

So now the I’ve put this off for about 6 months, let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Laird's 12 year old Apple Brandy

Purchase Info: $122.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Curiada.com

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.20

Details: 12 years old. 44% ABV.

Nose: This reminds me of a baked apple. Notes of brown sugar, caramel, baking spices, and sweet apple.

Mouth: Baking spices and barrel notes predominate with just a hint of apple underneath. After a couple of sips notes of caramel and brown sugar appear.

Finish: Warm and on the longer end of medium length. Notes of floral apple and cinnamon blossom after swallowing.

Thoughts: This is a wonderfully apple-forward brandy. In the past, I've had a few apple brandies that were very dried fruit forward, but this is more like a sweet and floral apple note. And 12 years in a barrel has allowed sweet caramel and spicy cinnamon notes to develop and come through even at a relatively low 88° proof. I really like this. And due to the cost, it will be going on the special shelf for sure.

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Celtic Honey Beekeeper’s Blend

September 12, 2023 Eric Burke

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

A reminder that I am on vacation to the Pacific Northwest this week. If things go as planned, as you read this, I should either be walking along an ocean beach, enjoying rainforests, driving, or relaxing in a room at Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park. Obviously, this was written ahead of time.

Though I’d never heard of Celtic Honey prior to this post, the press release assures me that it has been around for long enough that the bottle you see in the photo above is both reformulated and has had a packaging update. When I saw the email come across my desk, I thought, “This could be a delicious addition to a whiskey cocktail.” But I didn’t ask for a sample. I wasn’t sure if it would appeal to you guys, being a liqueur and not even one made from bourbon. But when the PR guy came back explicitly asking if I wanted a sample, something made me say yes. I mean, the worst that would happen was that I would have a sample of honey liqueur to find a use for.

So what is Celtic Honey Beekeeper’s Blend? According to their website, it is a blend of grain neutral spirit, Irish whiskey, and honey, though the press release mentions the “flavors of native Irish flowers, plants, and trees.” This reformulated version is sold at 80° proof and “is set to reach retail shelves across the country by August at a suggested retail price of $24.99 per 750 ml bottle.”

But how does it taste, and most importantly, should you pick up a bottle?

Celtic Honey Beekeeper's Blend

Purchase Info: This sample bottle was sent at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $24.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.67

Details: 40% ABV

Nose: Not nearly as sweet as I would have expected. The main note on the nose is herbal honey, but not super sweet honey.

Mouth: Sweet, but not cloyingly so. Notes of honey, cinnamon, clove, and mint.

Finish: Short and sweet with notes of sweet honey, delicate spice, and a pleasant nuttiness.

Thoughts: I expected this would be a decent cocktail ingredient, but I didn't expect it to be very good on its own. Yet here we are. I plan to finish the tasting glass once I'm done with tastings tonight, something I don’t often do when I’m doing multiple tastings at one time. It's obviously much sweeter than a bourbon, but not nearly as sweet as I would have expected from a product reformulated from a honey liqueur. More than anything, it reminds me of an Old Fashioned where the bitters had been left out. I could easily see myself enjoying this with a dash of bitters over ice or as the sweetener in an Old Fashioned or whiskey sour. In fact, I'll probably try that later and will include the results below.

—

So it’s now the next day, and I can 100% tell you that it makes a wonderful addition to cocktails. My wife loves a whiskey sour, so I made her a riff on that using equal parts fresh-squeezed lemon juice, Maker’s Cask Strength, and Celtic Honey. I shook that with ice with a small squirt of Agave Syrup (because it wasn’t quite balanced without it) and mint and garnished with a mint sprig. She really enjoyed it and asked for another, which I was happy to provide since today is her birthday. I made myself a much simpler drink. Equal parts Maker’s Cask Strength and Celtic Honey with a dash or two of bitters over ice. It was also quite tasty, though I realized later that I could have been even lazier and just left out the Bourbon altogether. When I tried just Celtic Honey and a dash or two of bitters over ice, it was just as good, though quite a bit sweeter.

So, should you pick up a bottle? Well, if all of this sounds good, I would. I’m certainly enjoying my bottle and will continue to as long as my (adult) daughter doesn’t finish it while she’s housesitting for us while we are gone.

Angostura Cocoa Bitters

August 15, 2023 Eric Burke

I’m a big fan of cocktails. As such, even though I usually use my own house-made bitters, I also keep an extensive collection of commercial bitters on hand as well. Either because a cocktail that I want to make calls for a specific ingredient or because I was wandering down the store aisle that had bitters in it when something caught my eye.

Such was the case with tonight’s bitters. I was wandering through the digital aisles of curiada.com, looking at a collection curated by one of my favorite YouTube cooking and history shows (Tasting History with Max Miller), when I clicked on a link that took me somewhere I didn’t expect. Among the many items on that new page were Cocoa Bitters from Angostura. Honestly, I didn’t even know Angostura had released a third product in their line of cocktail bitters. Though since it happened during the summer of 2020, I can probably be forgiven for missing the news. I have a vague recollection of something more important going on during that time. So after searching online to make sure no local stores carried it, I added it to my cart and had it shipped to me (along with a few other deliciously tasty treats).

Before we get into what I thought of it, here is what the company has to say about its relatively new product.

Few flavours delight one’s palate in a way that leaves you wanting more. None more so than the rich taste of cocoa! ANGOSTURA®, celebrated worldwide for its rich history in creating aromatic and orange bitters, has expanded its renowned collection to include ANGOSTURA® cocoa bitters. We only use the world’s finest, the Trinitario cocoa from Trinidad and Tobago. This paired with 200 years of unparalleled bitters expertise have resulted in this truly decadent, indulgent new flavour.

So…how is it? Let’s find out. First, we’ll try it on its own.

Like most Angostura bitters, Cocoa Bitters is delightfully spicy on the nose. Bright minty notes pair with earthy clove and spices. Under that, there is nutty depth provided by the addition of cocoa nibs. On the mouth, it’s just like a delicious spicy chocolate cookie. There are strong chocolate fudge and cinnamon notes that would make a candymaker weep. The finish is pure, rich dark chocolate. Honestly, I could drink this on its own. It’s really good.

Now that we’ve seen what we are dealing with, let’s try it in a few applications. I love to drink soda water with a few dashes of bitters in it as a refreshing, non-sweetened drink. In this case, the bitters weren’t quite right, though. The intense dilution of the drink highlighted the nutty flavors and pretty much lost the chocolate. Maybe I just don’t like acidic and carbonated chocolate, though. So let’s move into more traditional uses.

The whiskey cocktail I consume most often is an Old Fashioned. It’s not my favorite cocktail, but it is the easiest, so when my wife asks if I want a cocktail, she usually makes that one. And let me tell you, Angostura Cocoa Bitters make an excellent bourbon Old Fashioned. It pairs so well with the aged spirits, making it richer and more balanced. After looking on the Angostura Bitters website, I found an unexpected use for Cocoa Bitters that I also had to try. The After Eight Mojito uses white rum, lime, mint, sweetener, cocoa bitters, and soda water. I was blown away by how good that was. I didn’t have Angostura white rum, but the white rum I had on hand had a bit of funk to it and the chocolate notes played so well with it.

Overall, I love it. And if you haven’t tried it yet, maybe you are like me and missed its release in the midst of the VID, give it a try. It’s well worth the $12.99 I paid for it.

CleanCo Clean G Gin Alternative

August 3, 2023 Eric Burke

I really like a gin rickey on a hot day. We’ve discussed this in the past. And since it has been extremely hot so far this summer, I was looking for something that might allow me to have all the deliciousness of a gin rickey without drinking quite so much of the…gin. Just because it is hot out doesn’t necessarily mean I want to wake up the next morning with a hangover.

So as I was wandering through the aisles of my local grocery store, I noticed a line of non-alcoholic spirit alternatives in among the mixers. Now I’ve tried rum and whiskey alternatives before, and none of them were even close to the real thing. Most tasted like they were made by someone who had actually never tried the spirits. But I had a thought that maybe gin might be different. It isn’t barrel aged, so you wouldn’t need to try to figure out how to mimic that. And it’s flavored with botanicals. My theory was that you could do that by making a tea. I just never got around to doing it myself.

This means that when I saw the Clean G Gin Alternative on the shelf, I decided to save myself the effort of recipe creation and try it instead. Let’s see what the company has to say about its product before I tell you my thoughts:

Our take on a traditional London Dry Gin, Clean G features a crisp flavor with notes of balanced botanicals. That's because we carefully source and distill aromatic botanicals, like real juniper, to create a non-alcoholic spirit with a very fine finish.

Thoughts: Boy, am I ever disappointed in this. On its own, it tastes like 7-up that has gone flat. I get no hint of juniper, just a delicate citrus note. Definitely not making a martini with this thing. So I tried it in my favorite, the Gin Rickey. My Rickey was good. It just didn’t taste like gin. It tasted like fizzy water with lime in it (I might need to try just lime and soda more often, though, because it was delicious). After that, I tried a gimlet. Basically, limeade, sweetened and diluted lime juice. Finally, I decided to see how it held up in a low-alcohol cocktail by making a Negroni with the Clean G, Campari, and Vermouth. It tasted very flat. No vibrancy at all. The flavors of the liqueurs were present and tasty, but the “gin” just didn’t add anything to it.

Overall, for as much hope as I had for this, it just isn’t doing it for me. The one flavor I expect from Gin is Juniper. And this had none of that. I even tried infusing it with my own juniper berries to see if I could boost that flavor, to no avail. This is a pretty bottle. But it’s also $32 down the drain. If any of you know of a gin alternative that actually tastes like gin or even a nice juniper bitters, let me know. Otherwise, I think I’ll stick with lime and soda when I want a non-alcoholic rickey.

ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink

July 25, 2023 Eric Burke

Liver: Ummm…what are we doing?

Me: testing something.

Liver: Testing…what? Because that looks like a lot more alcohol than you usually bathe me in…

Me: I saw a thing on YouTube and thought we’d give it a try. If it works we might be able to help some folks on the internet.

Liver: And if it doesn’t work?

Me: It’ll work. Trust me. What’s the worst that will happen?

Liver: I have a bad feeling about this.

And that is how my weekend went. I’d seen something called ZBiotics advertised on a YouTube BBQ show that I quite enjoy. They talked about science and breaking down something called acetaldehyde. And how that substance is the one that gives you the hangover. (They go into it in-depth on their website.) Well, this seemed just too good to be true for me.

But I thought, what the heck? I mean, I hate hangovers. Not that many love them. But I seem to be unusually susceptible to them. My Wisconsin forbears could drink all night and wake up to go fishing at 5 am the next morning with no noticeable effects. Me? If I have a third bourbon on an especially jubilant Friday night, then first thing Saturday morning I’m reaching for the bottle of Advil and trying to sleep as long as possible. So I thought that even if it had a chance of working, it would be good to try. And then I spent the weekend testing it out. Here is how it went.

On Friday night, my wife and I cracked open one of the little bottles of ZBiotics, each just after she got home from work. We had a pre-dinner cocktail. Ate supper. A little while later, we had a bourbon. And then another before bed. More than I usually have, but not so much that it would be too out of the ordinary. And then, I went to bed fully expecting that there would be grogginess and a slight headache when I woke up Saturday morning.

But…no. I felt great! I was rested and ready to get on with my day. Same with my wife. So does that mean it worked? Or was it a coincidence? I thought it worked. But it’s possible that I might have done something else that would help prevent a hangover without meaning to. And so I decided to try again. And this time, I kindly asked my wife not to have any as I wasn’t sure how this was going to end up and wanted to make sure that there was at least one responsible person in the house. I was going to try for four. Not because I particularly wanted four bourbons on a Sunday night, but if I was going to do more than spout marketing blurbs at you, I wanted to do this in a deliberate way.

So once again, I drank the little bottle. Had a beer with supper. And then had at it for the next few hours. Man, was I happy. Just laughing and smiling. The doors were a little narrower than normal, but things were good. I was feeling great. Once I reached my fourth bourbon, I was done. Even in my oh-so-happy state, I knew that four bourbons and a beer in one night were at least a few too many. Then my poor, suffering wife poured me into bed, and I went to sleep.

Monday morning was…not nearly as good as Saturday. I was certainly reaching for the Advil bottle. I slept as long as the dogs would let me, which wasn’t long enough. Then I nursed coffee for the next few hours before trying to get some work done. I had a full-blown hangover. I joked with my wife that this entire post was just going to be “SEE WHAT I DO FOR YOU PEOPLE?!?” over and over again. And then I sighed and went back to feeling sorry for myself.

Final thoughts: I think that this worked well with a moderate over-indulgence. I really hadn’t felt that good after a third bourbon in a long time. But as far as pounding them down while pretending that you were still in college? Not really. Maybe it put a dent in it? If so, I hate to think what the day would have been like otherwise. But it certainly didn’t prevent anything, at least not for me. So my verdict is this: for $9 to $12 per little bottle (depending on the quantity you buy), I’d probably pass on it. It’s quite expensive when the alternative is just to drink less (which also works out to spending less on bourbon too).

Once again, it turns out that the easiest and cheapest way to prevent a hangover is just to drink responsibly and not over-indulge. No matter what the YouTube BBQ guy is paid to say. That said, I’ll probably toss the remainder into my bag when I go on vacation this fall. I mean, I’ve already paid for them.

Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream, now at 33 proof

June 22, 2023 Eric Burke

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Last Christmas, we took a look at four different bourbon cream liqueurs. Since that time, one of them—Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream—has been reformulated in order to give it a pretty hefty proof bump from 25° proof to 33° proof. Now, at first, I thought that it was an odd time of year to be releasing a bourbon cream. I usually think of it as a drink to have during the holidays.

But then, I remembered ice cream. Something that I usually do not keep in the house. Mostly because the bourbon is making me fat enough. But, if I was going to give a bottle of bourbon cream a fair shake in the summer, I needed it in a milkshake.

Do you see the sacrifices I make for you?

Anyway, before we talk about how delicious a boozy milkshake made with Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream is, let’s see what the company has to say about their new release:

Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream is still made using all-natural cream and Kentucky Straight Bourbon but is now bottled at 33 proof – one of the highest proof levels of any offering in the Bourbon Cream category. Tasting notes include cinnamon, nutmeg and caramel with hints of vanilla and sweet pecan on the nose and buttery caramel, sweet toffee and a smooth, warm finish on the palate. Like its other elevated namesakes, Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream now is offered in upscale packaging – in this case, with a prominent “33” callout and Lux Row Distillers embossing on the bottle’s shoulder.

Ezra Brooks Bourbon Cream, 33 proof

Purchase Info: This was provided but the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.47

Details: 16.5% ABV

Nose: Creamy with caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and a "boozy" note beneath it all.

Mouth: Nice thick mouthfeel. Follows the nose with notes of vanilla, caramel, and chocolate.

Finish: Sweet and creamy with notes of vibrant vanilla along with caramel and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is delicious. It's like dipping a delicious cookie in milk. It is sweet and creamy. And that powerful vanilla note on the finish makes the wholes thing a pleasure to sip.

Ok. So since this bottle arrived, I’ve eaten almost an entire quart of ice cream in milkshake form. This stuff pairs so well with it that you can go as simple as just ice cream and bourbon cream in a blender. Of course a splash of chocolate is also quite delicious. You can even toss in some malt power to make a boozy chocolate malt. Every single milkshake recipe I’ve tried has been amazing. I’m a big fan…might be time for bigger pants.

A Couple of Ginger Drinks: Stone's Original Ginger Wine and Domaine de Canton

May 16, 2023 Eric Burke

My mother is a big fan of ginger. She eats candied ginger as a snack, loves spicy ginger ales (one of her favorites is spicy enough that it is marketed more as a mixer than as a drink in it’s own right), and back when she was young she was known for her love of ginger brandy liqueur. These days, ginger brandy has apparently grown hard to find in the area I grew up in. As such, she makes a point of trying to find a bottle when she comes to visit.

Well, last weekend was one of those visits. We were at Total Wine when she stopped to see what they had. They had exactly one, and the guy that was working stopped her from putting it in the cart with the unsolicited advice, “I can’t let you buy that. It tastes like hand sanitizer.” So he took the time to listen to what she was looking for and pointed her to Stone’s Original Ginger Wine.

Now I also like ginger, not quite to the same extent as my mother, but it is high on the list of flavors that I enjoy. So as we were in the ginger section of Total Wine’s liqueur section, I took the opportunity to grab a bottle of Domain de Canton Ginger Liqueur. I’d noticed it way back when I started writing about spirits and then pretty much forgot about it for a decade or more. But “when in Rome,” as they say.

So hang on, folks. We are stepping out of our normal comfort zone tonight. Let’s look at a couple of alcoholic ginger drinks.

Stone’s Original Ginger

We might as well try the one that was recommended first. From what I can tell online, Stone’s Original Ginger is a fortified wine made of grape wine, neutral spirits, and ginger. It claims to be a Product of England, but the company’s website is Australian. Not sure what is going on there, but I’m not thinking too hard about it. There are drinks to be consumed.

Purchase Info: $12.49 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 ml): $0.83

Details: 13.5% ABV

Nose: Canned peaches, ginger, and a touch of citrus.

Mouth: Candied raisin, lemon, and after a moment in the mouth, you start to get a bit of heat and ginger flavor.

Finish: Gentle with notes of raisin and ginger. Not much heat.

Thoughts: Honestly, I thought that there would be more "punch" to this based on the ginger name. It's pleasant enough neat, but nothing to write home about. However, it really shines as a cocktail ingredient. I tried three from their website, and I’m a big fan of all three.

Southern Star

2 oz Bourbon
1 oz Stone’s Original Ginger
0.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a glass with fresh ice.

Stone and Gavel

3 oz Stone’s Original Ginger
1 oz Funky white rum
Pour over crushed ice, stir, and serve.

The Dragon Slayer

1 oz Stone’s Original Ginger
1 oz Gin
0.5 oz honey syrup
2 oz hard cider

These are all delicious. The Southern Star is a lot like a Manhattan, but there are more layers of flavor. The Stone and Gavel is what I’m drinking right now. It is my favorite of the three and reminds me of a Dark and Stormy with less ginger “punch” but more nuanced flavors. The Dragon Slayer was interesting. I used a local dry hard cider, and it really brought the apple notes to the forefront.

Domaine de Canton

Now onto one that landed in my cart from pure curiosity. Domaine de Canton is a ginger liqueur imported from France by Heaven Hill in Bardstown, KY. Here is what they have to say about it:

Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur was inspired by the French tradition in which sweet and fresh elixirs were fortified by fine eaux de vie and cognac. Spicy and aromatic elixirs became popular with the French during the time of colonial Indochine. Domaine de Canton is inspired by the subtle spiciness of the baby ginger grown locally in modern day Indochine. The result is a recipe which evokes an era of tropical romance and continental sophistication that is both elegant and timeless.

Purchase Info: $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.47

Details: 28% ABV

Nose: Ginger and lemon

Mouth: Thick and syrupy with honey, lemon, and ginger.

Finish: Spicy ginger for a long time.

Thoughts: This tastes exactly like I would have guessed a ginger liqueur would taste. It is very sweet and has powerful ginger notes that are nicely supported by a lemon note. I like it, and I’ll be keeping this on hand. It works very nicely in cocktails, especially ones where you pair it with citrus. I particularly liked the Gold Rush and the Ginger Collins from the product's neck tag. See below:

The Gold Rush

1.5 oz bourbon
1 oz Domaine de Canton
0.5 oz lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Ginger Collins

1.5 oz London Dry Gin
0.75 oz Domaine de Canton
0.5 oz lemon juice
3 oz Sparkling Water
Shake all but soda and strain into a glass over ice. Top with sparkling water. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

Both of these are great as described above, but on The Gold Rush, I’d personally use a higher percentage of the Domaine de Canton to get even more ginger flavor. The Ginger Collins is a spicier and sweeter version of my favorite deck drink, the Gin Rickey. It makes a nice change of pace if I have a hankering for switching things up but still want a floral and refreshing long drink.

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My Wandering Eye: The Laird's Apple Brandies That I Purchased in 2021 and Then Forgot About.

March 2, 2023 Eric Burke

I’m known amongst friends and family as the “absent-minded one.” Now, mind you, most of them don’t say it to my face. But you can tell that it is common knowledge among my family that if you want Eric to remember something, make sure that you tell his wife too. Or skip Eric entirely and just go straight to his wife.

Nothing proves my point on this more than the posts for this wee… Wait just a damn minute. This seems awfully familiar.

So now that you’ve gone back and read all about the history of Laird & Co that I wrote last week, I can tell you that these two bottles were actually purchased quite a while ago. See, I was watching a lovely cooking/history channel on YouTube called Tasting History with Max Miller when he put up one of his “Drinking History” episodes. That’s right, history, cooking, and drinking. If you know me, you know why I like this show. My wife likes it because, apparently, he has the prettiest blue eyes and she likes to look at them.

So in this particular episode, that I can’t remember the details of, he was using a bottle of Laird’s Old Apple Brandy in a historical cocktail. Laird’s Old Apple Brandy is a seven and a half year old apple brandy that is bottled at 80° proof from Laird & Co. out of New Jersey. I was smitten with the drink and the idea of having a bottle of said brandy in my house. So smitten, that I immediately went to his sponsor, Curiada.com who coincidentally carried the exact brandy that he was using.

What are the odds?

I also picked up a bottle of Laird’s Bottled in Bond Apple Brandy as well. And then I set them on my shelf, waiting for an opening to come up in the editorial calendar. Then I forgot about them because…well…I’m guessing something shiny entered my field of view and I was consumed with that instead. It really is a wonder that I’ve been doing this for over a decade without getting distracted and wandering away.

So, let’s dig in and see how they taste.

Laird’s Old Apple Brandy – 7 1/2

Purchase Info: Currently $41.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Curiada.com. I paid a little less than that in 2021.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.80

Details: 40% ABV. 7.5 years old

Nose: Apple juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Mouth: Apple juice, nutmeg, and a touch of oak.

Finish: Gentle, yet with a little heat. Notes of apple juice and cinnamon.

Thoughts: This is delicious. Lots of apple flavor. Just a touch of oak, enough to alter the flavor, but not enough to get in the way of the delicious apple. My only quibble on it is that I wish it was a higher proof. It's just a bit too gentle for my tastes. But that is a small quibble. Yum.

Lairds Straight Apple Brandy Bottled in Bond

Purchase Info: Currently $37.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Curiada.com. I paid a little more than that in 2021.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.53

Details: 50% ABV. DSP-NJ-1

Nose: Brown sugar, apple, a touch of cinnamon, and a very floral vanilla.

Mouth: Floral vanilla, cinnamon, and just a touch of apple.

Finish: Warm and medium length. Powerful notes of apple juice and spicy cinnamon.

Thoughts: I think I know why the proof was lower on the 7 year version. The apple notes on this are pretty subdued compared to its lower proof older brother. Which is really the opposite that I'd have expected from an older product. I'd have expected the older one to have less influence from the wine and more from the barrel than the younger one. That said, this is nice and spicy and the apple really comes through on the finish. I like this one. Hell, I like them both.

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