Top Brandy Reviews From May

With new brandy reviews going up every single day it can be hard to remember which ones we liked best, so we put together this round up of our favorites from the month of May!
Jun 12, 2016
  • 6
    84
    Cedar Ridge Brandy is distilled from estate-grown grapes from Iowa and is aged in American oak casks. It is then finished in French Limousin oak before bottling at 80 proof.
  • 5
    87
    For their Cr&ftwerk series, Copper & Kings collaborated with four American craft breweries, obtaining used beer barrels from each to age their brandy for a period of 12 months. Their neighbor in Louisville, Against the Grain, provided them with casks which held their Mac Fanny Baw peated Scottish ale. The entire Cr&ftwerk lineup is bottled at 111 proof and retails for approximately $50.
  • 4
    81
    With the Cr&ftwerk series, American brandy producer Copper & Kings collaborated with four American craft breweries to develop a lineup of brandies aged in casks which previously held beer. From Sierra Nevada, they utilized casks which held their Smoked Imperial Porter. Across the series, each of the four is bottled at 111 proof and retails for $50.
  • 3
    85
    The Cr&ftwerk series from Copper & Kings showcases their brandy aged for 12 months in barrels previously used to age beer from four different breweries. The idea was for the American craft distiller to draw some inspiration, along with distinctive flavor profiles, from prominent American craft brewers. This expression was aged in casks which held 3 Floyds' Dark Lord, a Russian Imperial Stout.
  • 2
    95
    Owned and operated by three generations of the Delord family, the House of Delord has been making armagnac since the 1890s when the patriarch of the family purchased a vineyard in Lannepax in Bas-Armagnac. Delord grows all four of the major armagnac varietals (ugni blanc, colombard, Baco blanc, and folle-blanche) without pesticides or fertilizers. They distill their eaux-de-vie on-site either in traditional continuous stills or in a double-distillation process. The new-make spirit of the former goes into older bottlings, whereas the double distilled new-make typically goes into younger bottlings. This armagnac is aged at least twenty-five years. Bottled at 40% ABV.
  • 1
    95
    This bottling was produced by Guillon-Painturaud, a family-owned and operated cognac house in Grande Champagne. They grow ugni blanc grapes for the cognacs on their family farm which has been in the family since 1610. Their Renaissance Cognac is aged for forty years before bottling and sees no additives.