Fruit Brandy
While the brandy we typically think about is made from grapes, the spirit can really be made from any type of fruit, berry, or not. Kirsch, for example, is brandy made from cherries, and slivovitz is brandy made from plums. Brandy can be made from everything from coconuts to juniper berries, but the most common type of brandy (aside from grape brandies) is that made from apples (and sometimes pears). In the U.S., apple brandy or applejack is a popular libation dating back to Colonial days — but the king of all fruit brandies can be found in France. Here, Calvados is distilled and aged in methods similar to Cognac, with various legal definitions and grade designations describing Calvados growing regions and the number of years spent in barrel.
Top Fruit Brandy Posts:
Domaine Dupont Calvados – Fine Reserve, Vieille Reserve, Hors d’Age
Arkansas Black Applejack 21 Years Old
Spirit of India Feni
Pur Spirits Pear Williams, Raspberry Vodka, and Bierbrand
Mulberry Club Fruit Brandies
Best known for their highly-aged brandy, Raj Bhakta’s eponymous spirits brand is making moves into other categories, including whiskey. They released an Armagnac-cask finished bourbon earlier in 2023, and they’ve also dabbled in rum. Now, they’re mixing up something different altogether: a blended spirits that’s 60 percent rye whiskey, 30 percent Calvados, and 10 percent…
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We’ve written about Belle de Brillet twice before, first as a standard Poire Williams and more recently as a “Pear & Cognac Liqueur.” Now owner Rémy Cointreau has reformulated and relaunched the brand once again, billing it as a “Pear Liqueur with Cognac.” Reportedly revamped “from bottle to liquid,” it is currently a blend of…
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Humboldt Distillery is bringing the spirit of California to the wider spirits world. By prioritizing local and organic ingredients, their aim is to both capture the beauty of their local community and remain ever-mindful of their environmental impact on the world. It’s a fine mission that has already produced fine results in the form of…
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Pear brandy isn’t exactly a universal crowd pleaser, but St. George’s expression does plenty with the finicky fruit. A heavily perfumed, linen-laden nose immediately evokes baked pears, with notes of lavender and some cinnamon present. The palate doesn’t stray far, that unflinchingly crisp note of pear balanced by more of that heavy floral quality —…
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Raj Bhakta‘s eponymous brand tiptoes downmarket and sideways with the launch of 27-07, which adds Calvados to the mix, blending it with Armagnac then finishing it in Islay casks much like the original Bhakta. While the 27-07’s intended age statement—7 years at its youngest, and 27 at its oldest—already placed it among the oldest spirits…
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I first became acquainted with rakija — widely known as raki — through Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, where it seemed like he was always sipping on the stuff, invariably with a grimace on his face. Raki is the national drink of Turkey and is widely produced in eastern Europe and the western countries of the former…
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Apricot is a tricky flavor to work with, but if you’re exploring classic cocktails, you’ll find apricot brandy or liqueur a component in dozens of recipes. When recipes call for apricot, they often call for plenty of it. The PDT Cocktail Book offers a recipe for an Apricot Flip which includes a healthy 3/4 oz…
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Rootstock Spirits is a craft distillery in western New York that focuses on the many fruits grown in this region, especially apples. One of the specialities of the operation is, of course, applejack. This bottling is a 5 year old expression (the black label in the photo above), which is an upgrade over the distillery’s…
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In addition to American whiskey and bourbon (one of which we just reviewed here), Indiana’s Spirits of French Lick also focuses on brandy and botanical spirits, including Indiana’s first commercial absinthe and a unique Calvados-style apple brandy. We received samples of each for review. Thoughts follow. Spirits of French Lick Absinthe Le Bleu (2021) –…
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Maraska isn’t just the distiller of my favorite brand of Maraschino liqueur, it also makes a variety of other fruit brandies and nut liqueurs in its homeland of Croatia. Today we look at two of them, both traditional offerings but new entries into its catalog, a Slivovitz plum brandy and a green walnut liqueur. Let’s…
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