The Most Wished For Brandies Last Week

Ernest & Julio Gallo are the namesakes for the E&J Brandy portfolio. Their first brandy sold was in 1938, but their VS was released in 1975. The VS is the youngest in their brandy portfolio and is at least 2 years old. Bottled and blended from a variety of grapes in California. Note: E&J Brandy updated their packaging with a new look and label, but the brandy remains the same as previous iterations.

The term "VS" is meaningless to determine age with American brandy. The brandy does, however, have a small age statement: "aged three years in oak" listed on the front of the bottle. Paul Masson was one of the pioneers in the California wine making world back in the 1890's and created and popularized the first American sparkling wine. This brandy has Californian origins, but is bottled and blended in Bardstown, Kentucky.

Laird's Old Apple Brandy is a straight apple brandy aged for 7 1/2 years in charred oak barrels after distillation in a combination pot/column still. It is bottled at 40% ABV. It takes 16 pounds of apples to produce one bottle of this brandy.

This 20 year-old brandy was released annually on Apple Day in October with one barrel being bottled each year. 2015 marked the last year for the 20-year release. Cider is produced at the farm from September until Christmas while they reserve distilling for the month of April, before it gets too hot. The cider brandy (also known as apple brandy) is bottled at 42% ABV after aging in small oak barrels. This review was taken from the 2012 bottling. Note: This is sold in 500ml sized bottles.

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.)

Clear Creek Douglas Fir Brandy is a seasonal product created by harvesting green buds from Douglas fir trees (also known as Oregon pine or Douglas spruce). These buds are then dropped into clear brandy and allowed to macerate. This now green brandy is re-distilled, but though this process will flavor the brandy, it will also become clear. More buds are collected and added and the maceration is repeated; the buds are removed a few weeks later. A touch of pear brandy is added before bottling. Sold in 375ml sized bottles.

Dating back to 1724, Rémy Martin has a long and storied history in Cognac. This marque, 1738 Royal Accord, pays tribute to one of Rémy Martin's earliest accolades when the French King Louis XV bestowed a reward of excellence on the distillery. A blend of various eaux-de-vie, this Fine Champagne Cognac is a step up from Rémy's flagship VSOP.

The E & J in question are Ernest & Julio Gallo, the brothers who in 1933 founded their namesake winery, a giant still to this day in the world of wine-making. Their VSOP has no age statement (but is slightly older than their VS bottling). It is produced, bottled, and blended in California from a variety of grapes. NOTE: This product has been repackaged and renamed as E&J VSOP Grand Blue, but the product is the same.

This expression is the youngest released from Courvoisier and uses eaux de vie that range in age from 4-7 years. The grapes are primarily sourced from the Fins Bois region with some Petite Champagne used as well.

The Laird family has been distilling apple brandy since at least 1698. Officially, records for the sale of their applejack date back to 1780. Their applejack consists of 35% apple brandy and 65% neutral spirits.