Brandy Archives - First Pour Cocktails

Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy

Posted on September 22, 2023September 20, 2023 by Nick

Although not widely available, Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy has a reputation for being excellent apple brandy. Unfortunately, it’s distribution isn’t available in all states, so until a friend was able to help me try a bottle I had always found the love for this brandy a mystery. So is it worth the hunt?

Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy

Distillate – 100% Apples
Proof – 100 (50%)
Age – Minimum 4 years
Cask – Oak
Bottled In Bond

Sight: Amontillado Sherry

Smell: Fresh sliced apples lace with vanilla and oak. The apple notes get a slight tint of baking spice and a lightly roasted character. It has elements of brown sugar and fruity candied apple. There’s a bit of floral in here too, and more than a little whiff of alcohol.

Sip: Bright floral apples and fresh sliced apple lead. The medium body gives forth a bit of vanilla and a hint of spice. The flavors are lean toward caramelizing apples in the oven, but without the sweetness. Oak comes in and there’s just a hint of the smell of the apple of the farm as flavor here too.

Savor: The ending leans into apples with a bit more skin and vanilla laced oak. The finish is short, and has a vaguely apple character.

Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy is little rough on the nose, but delivers a warm and well constructed apple flavor. The flavors aren’t super complicated or robust, but they are nicely orientated toward the apple orchard. The subtle floral notes go well against the more vanilla and oak undertones. This is a nice solid apple brandy that seems well suited for cocktails.

In Cocktails

In a Jack Rose it lends a fresh apple note to the lemon and pomegranate notes. It’s robust as a base, featuring the subtle oaky flavors and hints of vanilla behind all the fruitiness. While the depth could be deeper, it is very tasty. It works similarly as well in both a Honey Moon Cocktail and an Applejack Rabbit.

In Review – Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy

Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy is nicely constructed and works well in cocktails. Is it life altering? No, but the advantages that it has over Laird’s Blended Applejack are two fold. First, the proof helps to bring the flavors of the apples forward. Secondly, the lack of neutral grain spirits is evidence in a side by side. The result is a more apple orientated drink with none of the off flavors, while only being around $30. For these reasons, this is our new recommendation for an apple brandy when looking to make any cocktails.

H by Hine VSOP Cognac

Posted on February 17, 2023February 1, 2023 by Nick

Hine provides one of the most over the top descriptions for H by Hine I’ve seen in nearly 15 years of writing about wine and liquor:

H by Hine is whimsical. If it were a young man, it would have the keen eye of Dick Diver in Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night. Adventurous, lively and elegant, it is the ideal sidekick for daring cocktails and a flamboyant soloist when served neat with a dash of cold tonic. Expressive yet discreet, its notes of iris, fresh apricot, acacia and white pepper chime with its sprightly and joyful demeanour. Feels like Coachella in a bottle.

That’s a heck of billing to live up to, and we’ve already established our like of Lustau’s Brandy de Jerez as a budget offering and Pierre Ferrand’s 1840 as an entry cognac. So does it live up to it’s Coachella’s billing?

H by Hine VSOP Cognac

Sight: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry

Smell: There’s a slight heat to the nose that gives way to juicy, fermenting grapes. A raisin like sweetness laced with dates and figs comes to the forefront. It wraps in caramel and a bit of white pepper. Slight dried cranberry and fresh bright berries join in.

Sip: The body has a solid weight with a good amount of fig and caramel. The grape notes persist with a bit of raisining. There’s a rather consistent flavor throughout with a bit of oak. The slight oak gives a little white pepper, vanilla, and touch of ginger.

Savor: The ending carries forward the touches of spiced ginger and pepper with a nice hint of vanilla and pepper!

H by Hine VSOP is well balanced and gives off solid flavors of caramel, raisin, and fresh fig. As an easy sipper, it works nice as cognac, giving off the flavor profile you’d expect without paying a fortune for it. The subtleness is nice, and inviting, without being too soft to enjoy.

In Cocktails

In a Sidecar, vanilla and raisin come forward with a touch of oak before giving way to bright lemon and sweet orange. The vanilla and body are smooth and give a silkiness. There’s an interesting almost leather or cigar box note as well. Other stone fruit starts to emerge with dried apricot and peach preserves. There’s also something nice about the brightness and sweetness, which is well controlled by H by Hine VSOP and balances the drink.

In Review – H by Hine VSOP Cognac

H by Hine VSOP Cognac is well balanced and has all the right notes for cognac. While it isn’t the most exciting cognac, it also delivers all the flavors you’d expect at a very reasonable price point. As it works as both a sipper and a cocktail cognac, this is an easy recommendation around $40 for your home bar. Definitely check it out if you’re looking for something well made.

Macchu Pisco

Posted on January 6, 2023January 2, 2023 by Nick

Let’s start with the obvious – buying Pisco in Ohio is hard. There are currently two (2) Pisco available in the state that aren’t on special order or delisted. To put that in perspective, Macchu Pisco’s parent company makes three (3) Pisco’s on their own! So is their entry level offering worth your time, or should you consider a trip out of state or to Peru to find your Pisco?

Macchu Pisco

Sight: Clear

Smell: A bit of burn, but clear fermented grape flavors come through, mixed with hints of tropical fruit and vanilla. There’s a bit of ethanol and cotton candy floating around in the nose as well. There’s almost something a bit oatmeal cookie and sherry going on.

Sip: The body is moderate and somewhat viscous. There are notes of shortbread and fermented grape coming through. Touches of slate and vanilla come out as well, with a hint of pithy citrus and tropical fruit.

Savor: The ending has a bit of burn and ethanol note, but there’s also a decent amount of golden raisin. The ending is quite dry as well.

Macchu Pisco is an interest and wide ranging pisco. As Peruvian brandy goes it seems to be nice, but it’s one of my first. That said, the flavors are dynamic, and the texture is solid. There’s a bit of heat, but it’s clearly meant for mixing, not necessarily sipping.

In Cocktails

In a a Pisco Sour, Macchu Pisco is floral and grape forward without adding a whole lot of complexity. Some of the vanilla like notes carry forward, helped by the sweetness, and a bit of the tropical fruit comes out. The slightly raisined nature is there as well, with a bit of floral note. Overall, it makes a solid, if not overtly complicated cocktail.

In Review – Macchu Pisco

Macchu Pisco is reasonably interesting and priced that you can buy it, use it, and get an idea of what Pisco could be. This means that as an offering to stock on your bar, it works in exactly the capacity it should. Now, if you have a number of Pisco enthusiasts in your life, you should probably ask them for an idea of what you should use. If however, you’re like me, and you live in Ohio, this is one of two available Piscos, and it’s servicable for cocktails.

Martell VSOP

Posted on July 22, 2022July 19, 2022 by Nick

I may have mentioned in the past that I am not particularly fast at going through the back log of bottles we’ve collect. As a result, there are occasional packaging flow throughs and changes that make identifying what a particular bottle is a challenge. This is part of what happened with this particular bottle of Martell VSOP (Matured In Red Barrels).

Martell VSOP

Martell VSOP (Matured In Red Barrels) was an effort in Martell’s branding to help address the stodgy image of cognac. By emphasizing the “red barrels” the focus would be adjusted to target the fruity flavors within the cognac. The aging process is done in “red barrels” of fine-grained oak that reduce the exchange rate (compared to larger grain). According to their website, it is also aged at least 4 years for VSOP.

Sight: A pretty reddish amber

Smell: There’s a notable heat here coming off the start that gives way to flowers, touches of lychee, and plenty of fresh apricot. Notes of baking spiced laced macerated peaches come in with a top note of subtle caramel. The nose is unmistakably fruity, but carries the oak influence in the background.

Sip: The palate has a middling to heavy weight and a prickly heat to it. It drinks significantly hotter than 40% A.B.V. would imply. Notes of ripe apricot, peach, and nectarine come out and have a hint of caramelized brown sugar and spices.

Savor: The ending carries over the heat but brings in more oak and a hint of bitterness and unripe stone fruit.

Martell VSOP is fruit on the nose and fire on the palate. This is a rare case of dramatic discontinuity between the nose and the palate. Which is particularly confusing given that the proof isn’t particularly high. While the fruit notes are nice, this is hard to sip straight.

In Cocktails

In a Sidecar it brings the fruit in spades. The drink pops with notes of strawberries, apricot, marmalade, and peach. The overall notes of orange and lemon get prolonged appearances as a result of the relatively weak showing of oak and rich preserved fruit flavors. The result is a refreshing and bright sidecar that’s short of depth.

In Review – Martell VSOP

The value of Martell VSOP is in a price tag that sits below the $40 mark. That’s about where the appeal ends. The cognac in the bottle doesn’t match up with the presentation of the label and bottle. The result is something that’s acceptable, but not a recommendation.

Domaine Dupont Calvados Fine Reserve

Posted on September 10, 2021September 1, 2021 by Nick

Calvados is a protected designation within France for apple brandies made within the region conforming to specification. Among the producers is Domaine Dupont, who offers an entry level Calvados at about $40. Domaine Dupont Calvados Fine Reserve is a two year aged calvados that features 80% bitter apples and 20% acid apples. It is fermented and after 6 months receives a secondary distillation. The aging occurs in at least 50% new oak. So is it worth the investment?

Domaine Dupont Calvados Fine Reserve

Sight: A moderate straw yellow.

Smell: Apples, pears, and notes that range between floral and industrial come through. The nose has a soil like earthiness about it. Touches of overly ripe, pressed apples pull through with a hint of vanilla and a light baked quality.

Sip: The mouthfeel is moderate, leaning into thin at points. Notes of apples pressed for cider, caramel, and touches of oak join in. There are light touches of earthiness that gradually grow, a slight heat.

Savor: The ending is more earthy than anything else, leaving slightly bitter fermenting apple note behind. A slightly tannic end.

I’d be hard pressed to sit for a long period of time enjoying Domaine Dupont Calvados Fine Reserve on its own. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it as Calvados goes, providing the old world earth qualities along side a well intentioned spectrum of apple flavors. Notes of vanilla and caramel are glancing and not the lead, but nor are the earthy elements that venture toward medicinal or farm like. Overall, it presents itself well as an expression for something other than sipping.

In Cocktails

In a Jack Rose, the fermented apple notes come to the surface and amplify the caramel and oaky notes. The lemon drags more of the earthiness out, only to cut through it. The sweetness from both Domaine Dupont Calvados Fine Reserve and the grenadine result in a wonderful balance elevating both past their original starting point. That said, if you feel the old world farm flavors are noticeable, you’re not going to seem them less here. They do take on a vanilla crème kind of note, but are clearly inclined toward slightly fermenting apple notes.

While the apple element is not overt in most cocktails, it is present. If you try to use this Calvados to drive an apple flavor you’re going to be disappointed. Rather, what it adds is a subtle oaked fruitiness with an earthiness that adds a rustic sort of complexity. Play within these bounds and you’ll find a reasonable Calvados for a reasonable price.

Domaine Dupont Calvados Fine Reserve In Review

Domaine Dupont Calvados Fine Reserve is a decent enough bottle at the $40 price point. While it lacks some refinement to enjoy it on it’s own, it’s going to add an old world style to cocktails calling for Calvados without breaking the bank. The experience with in the Jack Rose is convincing enough that it deserves at least a try, as it elevates to a level beyond standard expectations. While I’d still recommend against enjoying it on it’s own, I think you’ll be reasonably satisfied with the quality using it in a cocktail.

Dupont’s Website

Lustau Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva

Posted on May 21, 2021May 21, 2021 by Nick

Cognacs and brandies are aged like whiskeys, first distilled, and then aged in oak casks. While the minimum aging is usually around 2 years, many producers extend there aging beyond that point. This isn’t the only way to age a liquor though. Enter Lustau Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva, which utilizes the Solera method to craft a brandy utilizing Spanish white grapes.

Lustau Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva

Aged in ex-American oak casks used for Amontillado casks for three years, Lustau Brandy de Jerez is produced in the Solera method.

The Solera method is a method of aging multiple vintages and blending them over time. When in a Solera, wine (or in this case liquor) is placed in tiers, where the youngest wine is at the top of scale, the oldest wine is placed at the bottom. The wine is then removed from the lowest level in parts for bottling, and is replenished by the layer above. Depending on the size of the solera, this layer is topped up with the layer above it, until top is reached – where new wine (or liquor) is added. By this blending method, multiple vintages of wine are combined so that the end product is consistent.

Sight: A lovely brownish caramel with hints of aging pennies.

Smell: There’s a beautifully raisined smell that comes off in heady waves. It mixes dark fruits and caramelized, dried fruit sugars. Touches of candied sugars and yeastiness join in with touches of candied orange and dried apricots.

Sip: The caramelized fruit sugars continue onto the palate with a light sweetness that gradually fades. Notes of oak and yeast come in, with a bit of baking croissant. Touches of raisin and an earthiness continue throughout with a hint of spice and nuttiness.

Savor: The ending is gentle, tannic, and dry. Flavors of spice and toast mix with touches of dried dark fruit and a hint of caramel.

Lustau Brandy de Jerez is slightly sweet and delightfully layered. While there is a definite grape flavor going on, there’s also a lot of great dried fruit and caramelized sugar notes that don’t show up in all brandies. The complexity leaves it in a lovely spot below the price of cognac, but with significantly more complexity than basement dwellers. While it isn’t the most exciting sipper, there’s a lot here you can work with in a drink.

In Cocktails

In testing we found that Brandy de Jerez adds a lot of caramelized sugar, bready notes, and hints of fruit. As a result, it helps express complexity with Amaros or other spicy ingredients. In a sidecar it gives a delightful roundness and a dark fruit, spice, and nutty note that plays nicely off the citrus. In our upcoming cocktail book, you’ll be able to find one of our favorites, the Snickerdoodle.

Lustau Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva Overall

Lustau Brandy de Jerez was one of my favorite finds of the last year. It’s particularly fun to craft around, thanks to it’s deep complexity. If you need to split a difference between Christian Brothers and Pierre Ferrand 1840, this comes in at a price point that’s certainly worth a try. For these reasons, we feel that Lustau Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva deserves a spot on our recommended bottles for starting a home bar list.

Lustau Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva Cocktails

Christian Brothers Brandy VS

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Nick

Brandy at times conjures up images of St. Bernard’s running through the woods with a barrel around it’s neck. Christian Brothers Brandy VS is priced in a way that you could let a dog run up a mountain with it and not worry about spilling it. But will the receiver enjoy it once the dog gets there?

Christian Brothers Brandy VS

Christian Brothers Brandy VS is made from grapes using a copper pot still. It’s aged for two years in ex-bourbon barrels to create the flavor profile. Then the important bit, they blend it to create a particularly stable flavor profile. At under $10, is it worth it?

Sight: An orange-gold.

Smell: It would be remiss not to note the alcohol hiding around many of the aromas. That said, it does hide decently well behind a creaminess and notes of grapes and caramel. Touches of vanilla and oak come in as well. Despite the persistent burn, it’s pleasant.

Sip: The body is light, but oddly syrupy. There’s a subtle touch of sweetness that runs length, with a gradually building heat. Notes of oak, hints of nuts, touches of vanilla, and caramel all layer with touches of dried fruit. A little bit of bitterness hides toward the back palate.

Savor: The ending picks up a bit of that bitterness, but many of sugary flavors and dried fruit notes are present.

Christian Brothers Brandy VS is simple, unrefined, and easy going. There is some burn here, and the simplicity is to a fault. There’s something slightly strange about the texture, but it isn’t unpleasant. It isn’t the kind of bottle you’re going to pour yourself a nice healthy pour of over an ice cube, but it does have many other better applications.

In Cocktails

Christian Brothers Brandy VS does alright in cocktails. The problem it has it’s never quite strong enough on it’s own, and then it never quite carries through in a cocktail either. While it does work to make a serviceable sidecar, the result is a little lacking on brandy flavor. This same result is why it also works well for liqueurs or flavor extraction, but it’s not going to add a lot of personality.

On a side note, it makes a delicious pan sauce with Pork Chop when you deglaze with it.

Christian Brothers Brandy VS Overall

Christian Brothers Brandy VS is a workhouse spirit for the bar. It works well enough in cocktails, but doesn’t add a lot. It’s a good extractor, that works for creating liqueurs. At the price, it’s a no brainer if you need to keep a cheap bottle of brandy around for cooking or simple cocktail duty.

Want more info, check out Christian Brothers’ website.

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac

Posted on April 5, 2020June 21, 2020 by Nick

It would not be unexpected for visions of brown leather furniture and crystal decanters to go through ones head at the mention of Cognac. Exuding an old world luxury, you might imagine a snifter cradling a pretty dark liquor held by men in their finest clothes puffing on cigars in a wood paneled room. While this doubtlessly still happens, Cognac’s markets and demographics have changed, leading to products with different intentions, like Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac.

Wait – what is Cognac?

Before we get into Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac, let’s first talk a little about what Cognac is. Cognac is specific form of Brandy from the Cognac region of France. You can think of this as how bourbon is whiskey – except made to exacting specifications of the law. Cognacs are distilled from wines made from Ugni Blanc (or occasionally two other varietals that make up 2% of Cognac production). These wines are distilled twice under specific restricted processes that end up making eau de vie. These eau de vie are then blended to make Cognac.

The process of blending the aged eau de vies is critical. Wine is a natural product, and therefore changes from year to year. The blending process of taking multiple eau de vies helps to ensure a consistency in the product.

Eau de vie are aged in barrels that can be reused as many times desired (as long as they never contain a non-wine product ie. Bourbon). These ages of these blended eau de vie then help to designate the Cognac’s classificaton. As Cognacs do not wear age statements, these are the classifications to help you understand the product:

V.S. (Very Special) – A minimum of 2 years in oak (sometimes known as three star)
V.S.O.P. (Very Superior Old Pale) – A minimum of 4 years in oak.
Napoleon – A minimum of 6 years in oak.
X.O. (Extra Old) – A minimum of 10 years in oak.
Hors d’âge (Beyond Age) – Equal to X.O. by years – a marketing term to designate a higher quality.

These are really the basics of Cognac – but far from the full trip you could take down the rabbit hole. For a great in-depth read – check out this guide from Eater.

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac represents one of the new style of V.S. cognacs on the market. Specifically designated for mixing, these Cognac’s seek to have a more robust profile to help shine in cocktails. Pierre Ferrand 1840 is made in the Grande Champagne region of Cognac, and is distilled on the lees. The eau de vie are then aged in multiple environments ranging from humid to dry across an unspecified variety of casks. So does Pierre Ferrand 1840 have the right setup to work in cocktails?

Sight: A delightfully rich amber, boarding onto orange.

Smell: Raisins, dried apricot, violets and other flowers wrap with hints of ester and poached pears. Orange marmalade and notes of caramel join in, and hints of leather and tobacco peak around.

Sip: The start is interestingly sweet, and beautifully viscous, almost lanolin like on the tongue. The profile changes gradually, moving from sweet, caramel like and floral with hints of pear and fruit toward something more dense. The transition moves toward oak with a spiced cigar box – and there’s a touch of tannin here from a strong woodsy finish.

Savor: The ending maintains a burnt marshmallow, baked fruits, and strong finish of oak. The ending lingers with abundant spice tannin.

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac is designed for mixing, and has a suitably complex character to justify it’s reasonable price tag. The character is quite good, and the texture is delightful. While one wouldn’t sit back and sip this on it’s own, it plays well in classics like the sidecar. Overall, for the price Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac is well crafted and flavorful.

Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac is our go to bottle in our home bar, and our recommendation to you. If you’re beginning a home bar, check out our Beginning Bottles for a Home Bar for more recommendations.

For more info – check our Pierre Ferrand’s Website.

Laird’s Blended Applejack

Posted on February 18, 2020September 10, 2023 by Nick

When the original settlers came to America, there wasn’t a lot of options to quench their thirst. Vineyards tended not to do well (thanks to climate and soil), barley and hops hadn’t been mastered in the new world, and imported spirits were wildly comparative when available. What was available though, was apples. Always the resourceful settlers, colonial American’s soon realized that apples could be frozen, leaving behind an unrefined but highly alcoholic residue. Soon after the discovery, a Scottish immigrant by the name of William Laird began refining the substance and aging it in oak to create an apple brandy. Enter Laird’s Blended Applejack.

Applejack was big in the United States for years, and resulted in the creation of several cocktails, notably the Jack Rose and Pink Lady. One of the things that first drew me to Applejack and the Jack Rose was the delightful book Boozehound by Jason Wilson. In it, Wilson describes the Jack Mauve (named due to the homemade grenadine on a Jack Rose), which left me hooked on the idea of homemade grenadine, lime, and applejack.

I only had one problem with finding all these things. I was flying every week and living out of a suitcase. If you want to torture yourself while flying, reading a book about obscure cocktail ingredients on an airplane. Nevertheless, I made a bee line for the liquor store and found a bottle of Laird’s Blended Applejack so I could make my own.

Laird’s Blended Applejack

Laird’s Blended Applejack is not straight applejack. Instead it’s blended with neutral grain spirits. This isn’t designed to be a straight sipping applejack. So how is Laird’s Blended Applejack?

Sight: An amber-brown hue in the glass.

Smell: The nose is full of apples with hints of caramel and oak. The apple notes range between cider like and freshly peeled. There’s a certain tartness as well.

Sip: The palate carries a smooth baked apple flavor that’s heavily influenced by oak notes and hints of vanilla and caramel. There’s a certain tea / tannic like note on the finish that pulls in additional cigar box like spicing. It also burns a bit.

Savor: The ending is more apple skin like and carries through oak and spice with a hint of bitterness.

The overall impression of Laird’s Blended Applejack is enjoyable and tasty, if unrefined. It’s far from perfect, but certainly more than serviceable for cocktails.

Laird’s Blended Applejack in Cocktails

Come fall and early winter, few spirits play as well with fresh apple as Laird’s Applejack. Unsurprisingly the apple notes tend to amplify, and work well as a canvas for warm sugars – like maple syrup or cinnamon simple. Due to this, it also plays well mixing with rum, and can cross the link into the tiki world – pulling on allspice and ginger to move in a baked pie direction. From a classic perspective, it’s the default in the Jack Rose and Pink Lady cocktails.

In a Jack Rose it gives a warm background to the fruitiness of the grenadine and the brightness of the lime. The subtly apple like flavor gives a bit of savor. The biggest downside is it gets lost in the cocktail.

Final Thoughts:

Applejack is a great choice when you’d like to impart a subtle hint of apple into a brandy or cognac based cocktail. While Laird’s Blended Applejack is one of the most basic on the market, it also works quite well in cocktails. The apple carries through along with some of the warm baking spice notes. Thanks to it’s aging in oak, it also can act like a whiskey or rum. While it’s not the smoothest, and you won’t be dying to drink it straight, but it will work well when you try to tiki or blend up a Jack Rose.