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.
Last month, my wife and I decided that we were going to participate in Dry January this year. Not for any real reason. It just seemed like something to kick us out of our rut. Because of that, I needed to look ahead and see what I could find that I could taste ahead of time. I had a couple of things hanging around that I hadn’t gotten around to writing about yet, but that wasn’t enough for an entire month. So I went to the liquor store, set myself a price limit of $150, and bought everything I was going to taste for the coming month. What follows is one of those purchases.
I’m in my local liquor store a lot, which is one reason I am participating in Dry January this year. I just buy way too much bourbon. Most of it is for reviews, but I also have stuff on hand outside of that. And since I buy way too much bourbon, that probably means I consume too much as well…as my ever-expanding waistline can attest to.
So, as I spend a lot of time at my local liquor store, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise anymore when I hear the familiar refrain “Anything I can help you find in Bourbon?” from one particular salesperson. If he’s working, he asks me that question every time I go in. And usually, I just politely decline the offer of help. He’s a helpful guy, but I know a thing or two about bourbon already. Really, the only thing he might be able to tell me that I don’t already know is if people are buying a product or not.
This is why when he asked me his usual question in late December, I didn’t decline the offer of help. Instead, I asked him a question. I told him that I write about spirits and am looking for something non-bourbon to write about. “So, what are people buying?” He told me that people have been really liking an inexpensive brandy from St. Rémy.
And so folks, we are wandering tonight. I’m not going to lie. I know nothing about this brandy. I only have it because the salesperson walked up to me and recommended it when I asked. And to be honest, I didn’t have high hopes once I got home. Minnesotans are known for their bland tastes in food. And every time I’ve seen something advertised as “Minnesota’s Favorite” it has lived up to that stereotype. Plus I found this description of it on the liquor store’s website:
St-Rémy VSOP embodies the iconic and historical taste of St-Rémy It is a translation of the original recipe that made St-Rémy renowned around the Globe. The right choice for a great authentic taste. St-Rémy VSOP conveys the taste of small, freshly-picked red berries, while bringing out the sweet vanilla flavor of oak. It is a round, balanced spirit that is easy to drink. With its light and subtle nose, St-Rémy VSOP is excellent neat, on ice or with a simple mixer.
So St-Rémy VSOP tastes like St-Rémy. Helpful. Well, let’s dig in and see if it is any good, shall we?
St-Rémy VSOP French Brandy
Purchase Info: $12.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor, Prior Lake, MN
Price per Drink (50 mL): $0.87
Details: 40% ABV.
Nose: Green apple, brown sugar, honey, and cinnamon.
Mouth: Not much going on here. Very delicate. Faint notes of floral apple and honey.
Finish: Gentle and short with apple, honey, and cinnamon notes.
Thoughts: This is possibly the most delicate brandy I've ever tasted. At the same time, it doesn't taste of ethanol, like so many cheap spirits do, so it's not terrible either. If you take the time to tease out the notes, they aren't bad. The salesperson I talked to said my fellow patrons were really enjoying it. Which, since Minnesotans have a reputation for loving bland foods, makes sense. This one is very bland. It’s not for me but it isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. This one gets a neutral face rating.
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