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 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. My hope is to see if another spirits category offers something that is 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. And one thing to remember is that these reviews will all be written from the perspective of a bourbon drinker.
A few weeks ago, I was out doing some shopping for next month’s brackets. As I was waiting for a store employee to find a particular size bottle of bourbon from their overstock, I decided to wander around the other aisles and see what my wandering eye might behold.
As is often the case, I wandered over to the brandy aisle. Brandy and rum will often scratch the same “aged spirit” itch that bourbon does so when I’m in a bourbon frame of mind, I tend to go to one of those aisles when wandering. I wasn’t planning on buying anything. I really just wanted to see what they had.
Let me detour here to tell you about the most wonderful brandy I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming. I was in Louisville at Proof on Main, the bar in the 21C hotel. It was a weekday, early enough that the post-work crowds had only started to trickle in. My wife and I had walked down from our hotel (or maybe we were staying there this time, I don’t really recall) for a contemplative dram while we planned out our next day’s activities. The bartender was a young guy, but not really a bourbon drinker. He did, however, have a bottle of pear brandy from Copper & Kings that a friend had gifted to him behind the bar. And since it was slow, he poured a sample for my wife, another patron, and I. This brandy had the most amazing nose I’ve ever had the pleasure to behold. It was long enough ago that I don’t remember the details, but I do remember that I nosed that for the next half hour. It was good enough that I didn’t want to drink the sample because that would mean I couldn’t nose this anymore. Eventually, though, it was gone and I was just left with that amazing memory.
So back to the store. As I walked down the brandy aisle, I noticed an Apple Brandy from Copper & Kings. I’d had a few of their grape brandies and though they were good, I knew that they could do some truly amazing things when working with other fruits. And before I knew it, the apple brandy named after the Louisville Floodwall was in my cart too.
Copper & Kings "Floodwall" Apple Brandy
Purchase Info: $34.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN
Price per Drink (50ml): $2.33
Details: 50% ABV. Non-Chill filtered. No post-distillation addition of apple flavor or essences. No Boisé. No added sugar or caramel color.
Nose: Caramel, vanilla, apple
Mouth: Dried apples, vanilla, baking spices
Finish: Gentle and flavorful. Notes of caramel, apples, vanilla, and cinnamon.
Thoughts: From start to finish, this is basically a dessert in a glass. Think of an apple turnover or a caramel apple pie. I could even be talked into tasting the crust. This is delicious. Of course, it doesn’t rise to the level of the pear brandy in my memory, but I didn’t really expect it to. I will, however, be enjoying the heck out of this whenever it is in my glass.
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