Our Favorite Peach Brandies

With a name like Peach Street Spirits, you kind of half to make peach brandy. Theirs is made from local Palisade peaches in western Colorado . Open-air fermentation utilizes wild yeast before a single distillation through a Christian Carl brandy still. The final product is unoaked and unaged and is bottled in 375ml sized bottles.

The peaches used in this brandy are only a “2 minute forklift ride” away from Peach Street Distillers in Palisade, Colorado. These freshly-picked peaches are fermented in open air and distilled only once before double-aging: first in French oak barrels for 6 to 12 months and then into decades-old retired Cognac barrels for an additional 12 to 24 months of finishing. About 26 pounds of peaches go into each bottle of Peach Street Peach Brandy.

Dutch’s Spirits based in New York’s Hudson Valley makes Peach Brandy in the traditional manner by using only peaches (from New York) that are first fermented then distilled into their small batch, 100% Peach Brandy. It is then aged in toasted American Oak Barrels. Bottled at 80 proof and hand labeled with batch and bottle number. (Note: Batch 02, bottle 61 was used for this review.)

Harvest Spirits holds New York's first farm distillery license and is located on a 200-acre apple farm in the Upper Hudson Valley. Cornelius Peach is legally a peach flavored brandy but calling it Peach Applejack might be a more fitting label. Tree ripe local peaches are hand pitted and left to soak in their Bourbon-barrel aged Applejack. After returning to the barrel to rest while the flavors marry it is bottled unfiltered to retain all of the flavors and texture the peaches bring to the applejack. Expect to see some sediment in the bottle. No sugar or additives are used in this product unlike many other products in the category.

Distilled in Chicago using fresh peaches and aged in KOVAL's own rye barrels is this limited edition barreled peach brandy. It was released in the Fall of 2016 and honors a larger-than-life woman, an aunt of KOVAL Distillery's co-founder, who launched an artistic and creative campaign for President of the World in the early 1990s. The packaging and label design for this expression features laser cut and embossed gold foil, inspired by Aunt Susan's style and spirit. It is available in 375ml sized bottles at 86 proof.