Christian brothers grand reserve V.S.O.P

Its sweet and a little harsh on the backend. I think its a decent introduction to brandy,but this one is more for mixing. You'd have to spend more for a good sipper. Im just gonna use this bottle as a base for some pear brandy

If you can find it, it’s one of the better American brandies you can buy.

Rating: 6/23 I don't recall the VS being very good, but maybe the VSOP is better. N: I get something a bit meaty from the alcohol, but also some light hints of sugary fruit that I worry suggests confectioner's sugar. Just plain alcohol as well. Not a promising start. P: Quite sweet with definite confectioner's sugar, a bit of fake caramel, and maybe some sort of fruit like maybe just grape juice (possibly with a dash of citron and banana) before giving way to more of confectioner's sugar, alcohol, and rubber. It's a tad harsh too. I must say that I am not impressed by this palate. It's actively unpleasant to drink. There's a faint hint of something tasty resembling age at times, but it's fleeting and mixed in with all of the bad flavors. F: The confectioner's sugar chalkiness really lingers, along with the rubber. It's a pretty unpleasant finish. The harshness lingers a bit as well and a hint of sulfur even jumps out, though it's nothing like in Jollite VSOP. This whole thing is unpleasant, beginning to end. It might work drowned in eggnog or ladled over a fruit cake, but it really isn't sippable at all. It's well below as 9, but not as bad as a 4. I guess that puts this in the 5 to 7 range. Jollite VSOP is richer and more interesting with grater complexity, but it also has way more sulfur and is much harsher. Possibly the Jollite is better for eggnog because of its bigger profile, which could make it a slightly better dram. Christian Brothers just really doesn't have much character. It could almost be a substitute for vodka. I think I might give a slight edge to Jollite. Symbole National, while not all that great, is still a lot better than this. It has some comparatively quite nice dried fruit flavors and none of that disgusting artificial caramel flavor, though it is still quite light with odd meatiness, minerals, and confectioner's sugar Side by side, this is also inferior to Grant's. The alcohol really comes through and the flavor here barely exists. I'm going to be generous and give this a 6 for now, but it could well be a 5.

Never have seen the "Grand Reserve"... but the standard VSOP, for the money... is VERY pleasant and smooth. Nice flavors. Good on the rocks, perfect for mixing in egg nog, coffee, even Coke. I hear the XO is really xlnt... but have never seen it.