Our Top Eau de Vie Suggestions

Copper & Kings Un-Aged Apple Brandy is twice-distilled in handcrafted Vendome copper pot-stills made in nearby Louisville, Kentucky. Made without any additives, it is non-chill-filtered and bottled at 45% ABV.

Blanche Armagnac became an officially recognized AOC in 2005, but Tariquet released their version in 2004 under the former name “Eau-de-Vie de Folle Blanche”. The four major grapes (folle blanche, ugni blanc, colombard, and baco blanc) in Armagnac are allowed for production providing they are from the Armagnac region, but only folle blanche is used in this bottling. It is unaged and bottled at 92 proof.

Frísco is a pisco-inspired spirit made in San Francisco, a locale where pisco historically had strong footing. Founder Charlie O'Connell was inspired to bring a local riff to market after traveling through South America, and partnered with San Francisco's Seven Stills for production. Bottled at 45% ABV, Frísco (pronounced "frees-koh") is made from California muscat grapes and is unoaked.

This unaged apple brandy is distilled from New Hampshire grown Macintosh and Cortland apples. While most of the distillery's brandy production is ageing in barrels, this unaged eau de vie is released without ageing.

For generations Blanche (or un-aged) Armagnac has been enjoyed by the families that produce them and their friends but it wasn't until 2005 that they were “legalized” and made available commercially. This un-aged Armagnac is from the Grande-Bas vineyards of the legendary Montesquiou family. A blend comprised of folle-blanche and Baco eaux de vies that is aged and married in steel tanks for three months after distillation.

Rhine Hall distills fresh fruit eau-de-vie in their distillery in Chicago, Illinois. Their cherry brandy is produced in the summer from a mash of de-pitted Michigan cherries, with roughly 15 pounds of plums needed to produce each 750ml bottle. Availability is limited.

Pear Brandy was one of the first products made by St George Spirits after they were founded in 1982. They start with whole organic Bartlett pears, picked at the height of ripeness and distill in copper pot-stills. The goal here, as with all great eau-de-vie is to create a pure unaffected expression of the base distillate. About 30 pounds of fruit are used to create just one 750ml bottle.

Clear Creek is a distillery located in Oregon established in 1985 by Steve McCarthy. He creates eau-de-vies, grappas, and liqueurs, but his single malt whiskey is what he can't keep stocked. The labor of love, however, lay with his fruit-based spirits which deserve more attention than they get. The fruit used for this eau-de-vie is organically grown Mirabelle plums from the King Estate near Eugene, Oregon. It is sold in 375ml sized bottles.

Singani is a spirit that has been produced since 1530. It has its own DO (denomination of origin) and GI (geographical indication) and can only be produced in the Bolivian Andes. The grapes (of which only muscat of Alexandria can be used) must be planted at a minimum of 5250 feet (1600 meters). As Singani is not recognized as its own spirit category in most of the world, it can only be described as a brandy, but it is better to think of it as an eau-de-vie. This Singani is the first to be available in the United States and for that you can thank director, Steven Soderbergh and his blood, sweat, and tears (and money).

The F. Meyer distillery is located in the Alsace region of France since 1958, and produces a variety of eaux-de-vie. Their Framboise is made from raspberries grown in Poland and Romania. It is double-distilled in copper pot-stills and then rested in steel tanks for two to five years before bottling.