Brandy de Jerez

[Jason Perlow]

As I branch out to new and interesting types of liquors (Calvados being my current favorite type of brandy) I am becoming interested in stuff from other countries besides France.

Yesterday, I bought a Carlos I Brandy de Jerez, from Pedro Domecq, a Solera Gran Reserva (means its 10 years old or better) from a local liquor store in Hackensack -- I liked it a lot, and for only $40, I'd say it was a bargain compared to most Cognac or Armagnac.

Effectively, its Brandy made from grapes used in Sherry, and its produced in the Jerez region of Spain and aged in Sherry barrels.

Anyone know of any others that are good?

http://www.brandydejerez.es/

[nightscotsman]

Effectively, its Brandy made from grapes used in Sherry, and its produced in the Jerez region of Spain and aged in Sherry barrels.

That sounds really intriguing. Does it have any any of the character of a sherry? Do you think you could describe how the taste and texture differs from a conventional brandy or cognac? Thanks!

[Simon Majumdar]

Try also the

Grand Duce Alba and the Jaime I

Both are excellent

S

[Jason Perlow]

Effectively, its Brandy made from grapes used in Sherry, and its produced in the Jerez region of Spain and aged in Sherry barrels.

That sounds really intriguing. Does it have any any of the character of a sherry? Do you think you could describe how the taste and texture differs from a conventional brandy or cognac? Thanks!

It has much of the flavor character of an oloroso sherry, or a fine port, but with the mouthfeel of a cognac.

[Tonyfinch]

It's really worth shelling out for the best when it comes to Spanish brandy.The cheaper ones have an unpleasant caramel/toffee overtone and a natural facility for setting off those pneumatic drills in your brain.

Other wine regions make brandy as well. Torres from Penedes do an excellent one. Its name escapes me but its sold in one of those perfume type shaped bottles.

[oraklet]

a spaniard once told me that carlos primera is supposed to be their best brandy, and i think that it is really fine. it's a good deal sweeter than a french brandy, though - at least that's how i remember it from 10 years ago. gran duque is even sweeter, but develops lots of very nice aromas as it is slowly warmed in the hand. it is all in all "bigger" than carlos.

spanish waiters pour brandy very liberally. i remember having to be almost carried home to our hotel by my wife. and there was some drilling next day.

[jaybee]

Several years ago I was a guest at one of the sherry bodegas in Jerez during the vintage festival. The directors of the brand co-op met with me to discuss how to get the brandies of Jerez (pronounced "hereth") more prominent in the US. I was treated to a tasting of their products, including some of the most aged and advanced brandies. They were quite good. There were five brands that were being promoted under the umbrella of "Brandies of Jerez".

My overall impression is that they tended toward sweet and smooth and lacked the intensity and complexity of a good Armagnac. They are easy to drink, and for people who find cognac too strong or fiery, these brandies are a good alternative. An anlaogy I think fits is the difference in single malts between a whisky like Abelour, which is aged in sherry casks and has a syrupy smooth character and Ardgeg or Laphroag, which are smokey and peaty without any sweetness. Either type is good, it depends on you palate and what you feel like drinking at the time.

[Tonyfinch]

The Spanish have never marketed their brandy as a luxury product like the French cognac or Scottish malts. Its always been seen as a cheap by-product of wine making cheap and,as Orkalet says,poured in huge slugs.

Last year we were staying with friends very close to the Torres winery just outside Villafranca del Penedes and met up with one of the senior managers in a local restaurant. He said that they were trying to market brandy as a more upmarket product but once the price got above say £12 per bottle you could forget about a market inside Spain. They just wouldn't pay that price for it. And the export market was difficult because of the competition from cognac,scotch etc.

As a result top Spanish brandy is still very cheap compared to its rival spirits and at the highest level does have the finesse and complexity of some mid-price cognacs and armagnacs.

[oraklet]

"The Spanish have never marketed their brandy as a luxury product like the French cognac or Scottish malts"

but then, 30 years ago, only few knew of malts. even most scots thought it too challenging and strange, didn't they?

[Tonyfinch]

This is absolutely true and the mass marketing of expensive malts has been a great success over the last twenty or so years. But Scotch whisky has never been a cheapo cheapo product like Spanish brandy so they were able to start marketing at a much higher price brand level.

Also very rare and expensive malts always existed and there was a market,albeit small,for the cognoscenti. Can the same be said about Spanish brandy? I don't know enough about it to know.

[jaybee]

Spanish brandy will never be a piece of a niche here, but it could be a profitable one. What they need is an image leader. Look at Italian wines. There was a time when chianti in straw bottles was what most wine buyers thought was "Italian" wines. The thing is, as was said, these things take time to develop. They can't be created overnight. And the Spanish want to sell five different brands under one umbrella, which makes it even more difficult to create an image leader.

Spanish red wines are gaining in respect and recogition. There are some very pricey ones. A major problem is the name "brandy" which most Americans associate with the cheap stuff. It can't be called congac or armagnac, but it won't make it at $30-$50 a bottle as "brandy from Spain."

A better potential target is the E&J drinker, who buys tons of the stuff. The Spanish product could be postioned as an upgrade, and it has taste characteristics that will appeal to them. (mellow and sweet).

Edited November 18, 2002 by jaybee (log)

[mickblueeyes]

I have to second Grand Duque de Alba--probably the finest Brandy de Jerez I have ever tasted.

[jaybee]

I noticed some typos in my earlier post, so I decided to note them as editorial corrections in brackets in the following quotation of myself. (is quoting one's self like verbal masturbation?)

Spanish brandy will never be [more than] a piece of a niche here, but it could be a profitable one. What they need is an image leader. Look at Italian wines. There was a time when chianti in straw bottles was what most wine buyers thought was "Italian" wines. The thing is, as was said, these things take time to develop. They can't be created overnight. And the Spanish want to sell five different brands under one umbrella, which makes it even more difficult to create an image leader.

Spanish red wines are gaining in respect and recog[n]ition. There are some very pricey ones. A major problem is the name "brandy" which most Americans associate with the cheap stuff. It can't be called congac or armagnac, but it won't make it at $30-$50 a bottle as "brandy from Spain."

A better potential target is the E&J drinker, who buys tons of the stuff. The Spanish product could be postioned as an upgrade, and it has taste characteristics that will appeal to them. (mellow and sweet).

[oraklet]

what, by the way, is an "E&J drinker"?