Tastes

As I understand it, this is a representative of a style of Armenian fruit brandy known as "oghi". While shopping for liquor online, my attention was naturally drawn by the amusing name (which apparently translates to "Sweeeet!"), with its brash exclamation point, and the low price. Then I noticed it was 50% ABV. Who could resist? It's difficult to find specific information about this brandy (like aging or distillation details), but my working hypothesis is that it is unaged eau-de-vie distilled from peaches. Given the low price I naturally was suspicious that it might be low-grade "brandy" with fruit juice, flavoring, or sweetening added, but (at least to my relatively untrained senses) that doesn't appear to be the case. The liquid is clear and non-viscous. The aroma delivers with a pleasantly powerful punch of peach. It has a bit of a creamy quality and reminds me most of peach yogurt. It's remarkably appealing, although after a while sharper alcohol notes kick in as well. Like the appearance, the flavor dispels any notion that this contains sweeteners or additives. It is quite dry and almost harsh. Somewhat disappointingly, it tastes much less peachy than it smells, and there is a fairly bracing alcohol burn. The peach flavor does come through in the mid-palate and is blended with a citrusy sharpness in the finish. It's hard for me to rate this as it's a bit of an oddball. The smell is delightful, but the taste is too rough around the edges to back it up. I've made some guerrilla cocktails ("Ti Pouuush!" anyone?) and found it does mellow out a bit when mixed, but that also tends to mute the aroma which is its strongest selling point. I imagine many people would rate this much lower than I have. Finally, I must admit that it is really, really fun to say "Anouuush!" and I can't be sure I wouldn't rate this 2.75 if it were just called "Humdrum Peach Brandy". In fact, although this may seem like an ordinary review to the blithely ignorant reader, it is only through extreme effort and iron self-control that I have avoided repeating the name at every opportunity. Let's keep in mind that this is a 50% ABV bottle for $20, which is a pretty good value for any brandy that's at least halfway decent (which this is). The Anouuush! brand (okay, my willpower failed there) also offers other oghi/eaux-de-vie, namely apricot, cornelian cherry, and mulberry, and I'm planning to try those at some point. It's like, liquor doesn't go bad, right? You can pay $20 and keep this on your shelf for many months, and then when the proper moment comes and you've got a few friends over and the mood is just right, you can pull it out and say "Anouuush!" Amortized over a year, that's less than $2 a month for privilege of saying "Anouuush!" as you pull out a bottle of "Anouuush!" and pour your friends a glass of "Anouush!" and, well, I must end this review here because clearly my ability to hold back the urge to say "Anouuush!" is quickly fading.

Caveat: I'm not 100% sure what I have is the same as what's listed here, but this seems to be the only thing on Distiller that might be it. The version I have is 40% ABV although Distiller lists it as 36%. This brandy is okay but doesn't really stand out to me. The aroma is sweet in a vaguely fruitcake sort of way, with lots of grape, caramel, and vanilla, and perhaps a bit of nuttiness. The taste starts with grape and quickly dissolves into an extremely sweet caramel. It's not quite sickly sweet but it's getting there, although it's tempered by some tangy fruit. The finish has a faint burn, a hint of spice, and a bit of chocolate and burnt sugar. The sweetness is the most prominent feature in both the smell and the taste and there's slightly too much of it for me. It's not bad by any means, just a little bit over the top with the caramel, and there aren't really any other complex or unusual flavors to draw the attention. It was pretty cheap at $22. I enjoyed the bottle but probably wouldn't buy this again as there are other brandies that I prefer, even if they cost slightly more (like in the $25-30 range).

The aroma is mostly grape, with a darker note like coffee perhaps. The palate is a delightful blend of flavors, starting with raisins and moving through to a sort of spice cake. The "dark" note shows up here as something like slightly burnt toast, not at all unpleasant. The finish leaves you with a warm, deep fruity feeling. Overall the taste is nicely "rounded" and almost buttery. This is pretty enjoyable stuff, especially at $30 a bottle. One store that I shop at online has it, but it doesn't seem widely available, which is a shame, as it's easily as good as some more expensive French brandies. I will likely buy more when I order from that store in the future.