Brandy

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Brandy

Postby Kurt » Fri Feb 19, 2010 2:06 am

I've been stocking my liquor cabinet and I have moved on to Brandy & Cognacs and that family of drinks. I got three bottles now and I have recommendations:

First is Jules Guatret Quest of Venture VSOP Cognac for $30 to $35 a bottle. Its a total bargain. Smooth yet woody. It is what I recommend if you liked the high end Russian or Bulgarian cognacs and it doesn't have the "Ghetto Fancy" premium of some of the other cognacs that are drank out of pimp goblets. Buy it.

The second is Boulard Calvados Pay's d Auge. This was a surprise because I thought I had bought an Armagnac when I pointed to the bottle behind the counter but it turns out Calvados is an apple Brandy from Normandie. Quite good stuff. Apple flavor with wood but not sweet or cidery. Quite happy I made this mistake for about $45.

The final one (for now) is Oregon Brandy from the Clear Creek Distillery. It is not bad but it is not worth the $47 I paid for it. It tastes like someone added regular Christian Brothers to some Grappa. Has a young taste with that Grappa/Polinka alcohol "bite". Usually the Pacific Northwest is really talented when it comes to booze but this was a bit of a disappointment. They should switch to making grappa instead or leave it in the casks a bit longer...or charge less (like $25). I predict good things coming from that area of the country but they gotta learn from their mistakes and this is a learning mistake. Don't bother getting it unless you got almost $50.00 to blow and think I am wrong (or like what I described).
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Re: Brandy

Postby shivers » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:55 am

I've never had Clear Creek's Oregon Brandy, but I've had a bunch of their other brandies, and they were all excellent. The pear brandy and the muscat grappa really stood out for me.

The Spanish coñacs are a pretty good value, IMO. Fundador is smooth, tasty, and readily available in the US.
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Re: Brandy

Postby Kurt » Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:39 am

shivers wrote:I've never had Clear Creek's Oregon Brandy, but I've had a bunch of their other brandies, and they were all excellent. The pear brandy and the muscat grappa really stood out for me.

The Spanish coñacs are a pretty good value, IMO. Fundador is smooth, tasty, and readily available in the US.


With Cognacs it is difficult since they are "ghetto fancy" now..that means they are always going to cost more than they are worth. So I will search for the Spanish stuff.
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Re: Brandy

Postby Mikethehack » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:45 pm

Here we go again. Kurt doesn't know any more about brandy than he knows about whiskey.
Slivovitz is a man's brandy. A bottle of Stara Sokolova would make a man that wretched viking.
Or maybe you are happy with the light stuff, sweetie.
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Re: Brandy

Postby Kurt » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:18 pm

Mikethehack wrote:Here we go again. Kurt doesn't know any more about brandy than he knows about whiskey.
Slivovitz is a man's brandy. A bottle of Stara Sokolova would make a man that wretched viking.
Or maybe you are happy with the light stuff, sweetie.


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Re: Brandy

Postby Woodsman » Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:17 am

LOL@Kurt@MTH.

The only thing I know about brandy and cognac is that they go down smooth and warm everything up really well and taste a million times better than any Scotch, but anything in a good brand is expensive.

These are good items to bribe building inspectors with, so I've been told.
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Re: Brandy

Postby JamesInTheWorld » Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:42 pm

Remy Martin X.O. is great and even the gangsters favorite Hennessy is damn good

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Re: Brandy

Postby mapandcompass » Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:04 pm

At the risk of sounding low-class, try the $10-15 E&J VSOP brandy. Comes in a clear bottle with blue labels, can probably find it at any liquor shop in North America.

I've tried at least a dozen brandies ranging from $8-$30 and it's definitely my favorite.
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Re: Brandy

Postby Kurt » Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:48 pm

That is the trick...sometimes cheaper things just taste better.
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Re: Brandy

Postby SRR » Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:40 pm

Wow man, you found Calvados over there in your neck of the woods? Yes it's all over the place here in FrogLand but that's expected. Seems you can't turn a corner here 'round Île-de-Frànce without some goatfucker selling you urine-soaked cheese or ass-distilled fruit-liqueur of some sort.

I'd hesitate to call Calvados a "brandy" of sorts, it's in its own league (I like to call it "a properly alcoholized cider"). Am also trying to find a raisonabbly priced bottle of chartreuse, which hasn't proven too easy to do. Probably only produced in 3 barns near Bordeaux by the same 3 inbred families since the days of Charlemagne.

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Re: Brandy

Postby Kurt » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:25 pm

Yep, I found it and I love the stuff.

It also seems like it would be an excellent addition to crepe batter...or used to plump raisins in preparation for a sauce.
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Re: Brandy

Postby lightstalker » Wed Mar 24, 2010 3:01 am

Uggrhh...brandy. The last time I drank brandy ( think it was 03') I found myself attempting to catipillar break dance across the floor of a cyber goth nightclub in Camden. Then I threw up behind one of the speakers.Ugly. Mind due, I had drunk six or 7 pints of 1664 at the pub before hand
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Re: Brandy

Postby SRR » Sat Mar 27, 2010 12:03 am

Finally nabbed a decent priced bottle of Chartreuse at a local supermarché of all places.... 2 glasses included, and a cocktail recipe list. Upon first sniff it seemed familiar, and the familiarity was gin, definitely. But it's more than gin, it's got this sweet side to it, and other aspects. It's an interesting drink. Worth having in your cabinet to wow the ladeez with. Or the guyz, you know, 'cuz those "fancy" guys wouldn't mind a French drink and all. But what the hell dun I know.
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Re: Brandy

Postby WillyBlues » Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:37 pm

I remember hearing about a drink called a Screaming Eagle, shots of Chartreuse dropped into champagne. This was from the early 70's so I guess all these new "bombs" I'm seeing in the bars are just a rehash.
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Re: Brandy

Postby Sri Lanky » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:17 pm

Didn't I fuck her in her skankhole in some skankhole in Buttfuck,insert-country-of-choice here?
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