Copper & Kings are an American brandy company out of Louisville, KY. They use traditional copper pot-distillation but take the purist route in terms of production. Non-chill filtered. Unadulterated. They don’t dilute in the barrel through maturation. They age their grape brandy in a combination of new oak and ex-bourbon barrels.
Now with that said comes the phoenix project. American brandy aged in 60 gallon barrels. The twist is how these barrels were treated. C&K took 500 liter ex-sherry butts and aged grape and apple brandy in them for 16 months. This wood was than used as firewood to toast and char the new American oak barrel staves that would be then used for aging their spirit along with ex-bourbon barrels. An interesting experiment!
Copper & Kings “Phoenix Barrel” selected by MAWLS
6 years old, 65%
Nose: Thick sweetness on the nose. caramel, chocolate. It’s already hinting at some significant heat. Some nuttiness.
Taste: This is thick and syrupy. Very sweet. Chocolate. Raisins. Some mint. Caramel.
Finish: It finishes quite hot and rough with a fair bit of oak.
I’ve heard others refer to this as a smoky brandy. But the smoke does not pop to me. What does pop is the thick sweetness. The flavor profile with the syrupy caramel and big oak finishes screams new oak to me. This is American whiskey territory, but there are some brandy type notes that remind you what you’re drinking. The concentrated raisins in particular are very obvious. It is also hot, as both 130 proof and young spirits often are, but this is not that young at 6 years old, either. I’ve certainly tasted some elegant French brandies at a similar age, and this swings in the other direction as a big, brutish, rough spirit packed with sweetness and flavor. It is after all an American brandy, not a European brandy, and as such, it is very much in the spirit of American whiskey. To their credit, I think that’s what they’re going for.
Not the most complex pour and certainly not my preferred style, but as we often say about many craft producers, this does show promise. There are some compelling flavors going on in this one with an intensity of oak and rich sweetness that is sure to attract American whiskey drinkers.
B-
No comments:
Post a Comment