Germain-Robin Apple Brandy Heirloom

Not your father’s Applejack, Germain-Robin’s artisanal apple brandy is not cloyingly sweet but rather a fruit-tinged brandy, just as good fruit brandy should be. Dry and smooth, the nose offers vanilla and light chocolate notes, and really little more than a hint of apples. That’s right: The apple orchard takes a back seat to the smooth and traditional brandy notes, rich and a little raisiny, even with a little orange on the finish. Lively, easygoing, and borderline delicious, apple brandy rarely reaches anything approaching this good.A real delight: clean, pure, wonderful and complex combination of delicacy and great flavor. Very limited (one barrel/year), hand-distilled, and superb apple brandy. Heirloom Sierra Beauty, Jonathon, Ben Davis, and Gravenstein apples from the Anderson Valley give this apple brandy depth, unusual length (Germain-Robin’s hallmark), and lots of life. A portion of the cider goes through malolactic fermentation, yielding creaminess and texture. Aged in Limousin and Missouri Oak.