five american brandies!

During the Prohibition era, production and sale of all alcoholic beverages, including brandy, was illegal in the United States. Many small-scale distilleries were shut down, and the tradition of making fruit brandy almost disappeared. Fortunately, after Prohibition was repealed, fruit brandy began to make a comeback. In the 1940s and 1950s, a few large-scale distilleries began producing fruit brandy, primarily using apples and pears.

Today, American fruit brandy is made using a wide variety of fruits, including apricots, plums, berries, and even figs. Many small-scale distilleries have sprung up across the country, using traditional methods to produce high-quality, artisanal fruit brandies. We came across these two craft distilleries,, one in Kentucky, and one in Colorado that were making some beautiful fruit spirits, so we bought some casks, and even blended some together.

Keeping in the ‘card’ theme, we asked our in-house TBBC label artist, Toby Dowling to create a deck of playing cards for us. Copper and Kings brandies feature in four of these releases, so a suite of Kings it was.

Copper & Kings Batch 1, 4 Year Old - Copper & Kings is an American brandy distillery based in Butchertown, Louisville, Kentucky. This brandy is distilled from a Moscatel grape wine and matured in Ex-Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah casks. Outturn 126 bottles 45% abv rrp £49.95

N: A dusty old bottle of sweet Muscat wine. Soft, fruity and floral with orange blossom and lemon rind.
P: Sultanas, honey and dried apricots. Finishing with sweet fruits and raisins continue.

Copper & Kings Batch 2, 4 Year Old - This fruit spirit has been distilled from an apple-win and matured in an ex-Sherry cask Outturn 126 bottles 45% abv rrp £49.95

N: A slow-stewed apple compote, brown sugars and butter. Classic american-oak notes of creamy vanilla and spicy cinnamon.
P: Rich, nutty and medium dry, like a sweet oloroso sherry. Finishing with apple pie drizzled with fresh creme anglaise.

Copper & Kings Batch 3, 4 Year Old - When you mix grape and apple brandies together, we create ‘Grapple’ - well that’s what we called it. This is a 50:50 blend of 4 Year Old grape brandy, and 4 Year Old cask matured apple spirit, both from Copper & Kings. Outturn 126 bottles 45% abv rrp £49.95

N: A tropical fruit salad of tangerine, apple, grape, raspberry and mango.
P: The two spirits intermingle to create a delicate balance of sweetness and weight. There’s no wrestlers grappling here, moreso they’re engaged in an elegant waltz.

Peach Street Distillers Batch 1, 2 Year Old - Peach Street Distillers are a craft micro distillery in Palisade, Colorado. Nearly 16 kg of Palisade Peaches are used for every litre of their spirit. They've been called the best peaches on earth, the pride of the most dedicated farmers. This cask matured peach spirit has been matured in 75% American Oak / 25% French Oak Ex-Brandy Cask Outturn 126 bottles 45% abv rrp £49.95

N: Fruity and floral; A perfectly ripe, fresh peach. Grapes, and rose petals. Sweetens with caramel and honey. Fragrant apple wood , and a hint of lavender.
P: Juicy, sweet and slightly floral, like a Japanese white peach mochi. Millions of peaches, peaches for me in the finish

Blended Brandy #1 Batch 1, 2 Year Old - This is a 50:50 blend of 2 Year Old cask matured peach spirit from Peach Street Distillers, and 4 Year Old cask matured apple spirit from Copper & Kings. It tasted delicious in Toby’s lab (aka the kitchen) and so became one of our US Brandies (that can’t be labelled brandies here. Outturn 126 bottles 45% abv rrp £49.95

N: Apple and peach crumble, stewed apples and peaches, brown sugars, nutmeg and cinnamon.
P: Juicy and sweet, more delicate than the nose suggests. Finishing with vanilla ice cream with a wisp of gentle oak toast.