What Good Brandy Tastes Like
In my previous post, I mentioned something about how the Fine Brandy Fusion was a life changing experience but I never got quite to explaining why. So here's the why.
We started the night with the food on offer which is always a good idea when you plan to be drinking a lot. Line that stomach! We were treated to delightfully fancy things at the festival restaurant. Mine was an oxtail something or other and Jeremy had the duck. It was pretty darn delicious.
The festival kitchen was a bit of a mismatch, with amazing food served in an almost cafeteria style .So, that was weird, but we were there for the brandy so who cared.
Our first tasting of the night was the Oude Meester 18 year old Sovereign and my oh my was that a way to start. The Oude Meester stall had special timed tastings of their favourite 18 year old and the host Z, was the person who gave us most of the brandy knowledge that I shared a while back.
Oude Meester 18 year Old Sovereign
Nose : Cigar box woody, with some dark chocolate and over ripe apricots
Taste: Suprisingly fresh, delicately sweet and as can be expected after 18 years in oak and decidely velvety.
The next distillery we got involved with was Oude Molen we tasted their Solera, V.O.V and their Rene Single Cask.
Oude Molen
Solera
Nose: Lightly floral
Taste: Sweet-ish and smooth
V.OV
Nose: Fresh, citrussy( kind of like the leaves of citrus fruit trees), cigar box , chocolate.
Taste: Soft and sweet
Rene Single Cask
Nose: Caramel, toffee, butterscotch
Taste: Fuller, Sweeter and Rougher, a lot more body
Quote from the tasting was : " A hot lady a bite"
And then we got to the moment that changed my life, my tasting from Van Ryn's. All evening I'd been going to the stall but the lady helping said it would be best to wait for the Master Distiller, Marlene Bester and boy was she right. Ms Bester, has the distinction of being one of the few female Master Distiller's, in a predominantly male dominated industry. Talking to her was such an inspiration.
Van Ryn's is something of a gem in the South African Brandy crown, their 12 year old brandy has won the award as the world's best brandy 9 times since 2004 and remains one of the world's most awarded brandies.
Van Ryn's
12 Year Old Brandy
Nose: Fresh berries, hay , clean laundry , pot pouri.
Taste: Smooth but bodied and definitely improved with a dash of water that just opened it up and added a lightness to the tongue.
And now for the 20 year old. Nearly as old as I am, the Van Ryn's 20 year old was a beauty to behold. As I was about to taste it one of the tasters from a well regarded Cape Town restaurant, mentioned that industry insiders often referred to it as a , "Panty dropper". And man are they right.
20 Year Old Brandy
Nose: Plummy with a light fruit tree blossom, a hint of vanilla and basically, just a confluence of smell. It has the balance of the ideal perfume, soft, delicate with surprising notes of freshness. It was pretty much the best thing I've smelt in my life, ever.
Taste: It's so smooth, so much body and so much flavour, holding the lightness of water whilst maintaing depth, character and a velvety smoothness. There's also this seamless meeting of rich indulgence and refined simplicity. It was , "just-so," nothing could be added or taken away, a taste that holds all flavours in perfect harmony and balance. In short it was life changing.
Now the real honest truth is that you're probably not going to find these brandies at your average corner store but if you do happen to come across them , your life will be just a little bit better.