Nice video Steve. I’m big fan of Spanish brandy’s. Main difference between Spanish Brandy and Cognac is a casks use to maturation process. In France it mostly virgin French oak cask or cognac Refill cask , in Spain most commonly used casks are ex Sherry wine casks , and due to a few different Sherry wine type you can get different taste profile od brandy . Cheers
Yup deffo. I admittedly totally forget to mention that. Kinda loosely covered with the whole Solera thing. But you're right. And it really shows on the tasting. VERY different profiles.
Hi Steve, thoroughly enjoyed this show. I too have been thinking of the Spanish Brandys as a cheaper alternative to French Cognac in cocktails. I love a Vieux Carre. Currently though I am abstaining due to a gout attack. Nick from York
Torres no es un mal brandy, pero no es un brandy de Jerez y en mi opinión los brandys de Jerez tiene características especiales. Me gustaría ver un video en el que compares un brandy de Jerez con un Cognac equivalente en precio. Gracias y un saludo
I love Spanish Brandy but would never compare it to Armagnac and Cognac (which I also love). Spanish Brandy is different. Of course most are Brandy De Jerez and will taste of the influence of Sherry which is lovely. But the more regular Of course Torres for example aged in Bourbon Barrels and also fermented for longer than Cognac and Armagnac (or even most rum) so they have a lot more fruit flavors and also more charred flavor from the Bourbon barrels. Spanish brandy of any kind has a ton more flavor than Cognac or even Armagnac even with no aging. It's more like rum in that it has a ton of fruity flavors before aging. So it's not comparable to the aging years of Cognac or Armagnac.
I really do agree as I have visited several Brandy de Jerez houses in Spain, me and the wife have a summerhouse in Spain. I tasted Torres before aging and it's very nicely fermented with more flavor than the wine made from these grapes, pear, apple, leather and spices even before any aging was done at the distillery. After aging you get vanilla, wood and other spices added. We tasted young Torres liquor and Torres 15 and compared.
We just got back from Spain now 2 weeks ago and I purchased a bottle of Carlos I 1520 for 98 quid at Alicante airport. This is the perfect balance between very old Cognac and the thick caramelly liquid that is Brandy de Jerez in my opinion. I had a very old bottle of Cognac purchased on the way down to Spain to compare. Now of course the bottle is a Godsend heavy piece of glass with that perfect pour, no matter how much you drink it pours perfectly. Ok that's not really important, the liquid within has a lot of the 30-40 year old blend of Cognac Hors d'age does, but it's also very thick and velvety on arrival. It has a bit of leather, caramel, vanilla along with the nuttiness associated with sherry and also dark fruits galore. It's not overtly sweet like many Spanish brandies but instead dries out nicely after the first thick hit of caramel and burned sugar. I usually enjoy the regular Grand reserves at 12-15 average that you can get at the supermarked in Spain for 9 quid, in the Solera that have a lot of this but are often too sweet on the finish. But this one turns dry early and releases a lot of the leathery notes, nail polish, old cheese and dried up cream and so on of a very old cognac. Best of both words I say. Too bad it's a limited release and hopefully they have a lot more left when we go back in February. This bottle is 0667/5321.
You should try ABK6. They have vast offerings from VS to XO Grande Champagne and I would love to see how you think they compare to Remy Martin and Courvoisier. Cheers!
I also enjoy Spanish Brandy. Very affordable ! I have been enjoying Fundador Sherry Cask finish lately. Spanish Brandies are great, but to me they seem to lack the "feel" or "high" of Cognacs from Grande Champagne, Borderies, and Petite Champagne. Maybe the minerals in the French soils are adding that extra finesse ?
Yeah, it's a bit of everything. Totally different Grape. Different climate. Different Laws controlling "production"...even coming down to how much and when, watering the vines can be done. Different aging techniques. Different Blending. But that said, you try that Torres 20, and tell me it doesn't match up to a VSOP. You have to ignore the number as its solera. But Price side by side. That Torres 20 is exceptional.
What an amazing channel, I have just recently discovered the wonderful world of brandy and I'm glad there's a channel dedicated to it!. I have just started making my own Grand Marnier liqueur, using brandy as a base with added orange peels and sugar, I can't wait to try it when it's finished. I've been wanting to try the VSOP brandy by Bardinet, it's one of the only afforable brandy's I can get my hands on. Possible taste-testing video on Bardinet brandy? :)
As a kid, Carlos I was simply the best, and I didn't like French brandy at all. These days I'm horrifically allergic to brandy, but I do like apple brandy. From a whisky lover's perspective, it's very interesting what aging does, how long, where the casks are kept, the actual size of the cask, what it's been used for, the level of char, etc. I would love to know what a caramelly smooth brandy would come out like if aged in a lightly charred ex-Talisker or Lagavulin cask would taste like, or at the other end of the scale, a lightly charred ex-Glenfarclas or Auchentoshan Bloodwood cask. I think all would be delicious, but not sure what would be your favourite.
