Anouuush! Peach Brandy

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.