Marie Brizard Products

[thirtyoneknots]

Without going on a rant dripping with vitriol I will say it is the ability to get their products consistently.

Toby

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That is indeed their achilles heel. We can barely get them for home use here, so dealing with shortages on the commercial level never even comes up :-\

I do still think that the DIY route will not be sustainable in the long run, but I guess I don't really know. I have heard consistently mediocre results with homemade apricot liqueurs though.

[eje]

Without going on a rant dripping with vitriol I will say it is the ability to get their products consistently.

Toby

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Speaking of, anyone know what's up with Brizard right now? Their products seem to have disappeared from liquor stores. Change in US distributor or importer?

[thirtyoneknots]

Without going on a rant dripping with vitriol I will say it is the ability to get their products consistently.

Toby

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Speaking of, anyone know what's up with Brizard right now? Their products seem to have disappeared from liquor stores. Change in US distributor or importer?

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Hm that is strange, we're still getting them in Texas (to the limited extent that we ever were).

[slkinsey]

Brizard has had on-and-off distribution issues in the US for almost as long as I have been aware of their products. Not sure why.

[KatieLoeb]

Let me try and find out who the distributor in PA is, and try and get a straight answer from them. I'd be curious too, why it's such spotty distribution in so many markets, not just one...

[thirtyoneknots]

The distributor in Texas is (or was last time I checked) Glazer, and neither of their two local reps are actually aware of the brand's existence, which says as much about their ambition and competence as it does about the brand and it's relationship with the distributor.

[slkinsey]

I should probably amend what I wrote earlier. I don't get the impression MB necessarily has distribution within the US issues. Rather, they have distribution to the US issues.

[eas]

Sometime in late '07 or early '08 MB changed US importers from Heaven Hill/Bardstown KY to Imperial Brands (think Sobieski Vodka) with the sale/restructuring of Belvedere S.A. In addition to labeling changes they or MB also reduced the ABV on a number of products (e.g., their apricot Liqueur "Apry" went from 30% to 20.5%). The Cacao and Menthe are still fine and useful products. With the importer change there were likely distributor changes, and given the exceptional effort and resources poured into Sobieski, perhaps for a while a secondary priority. Nonetheless Imperial has made quite an investment in MB so we can probably expect more to come.

[eje]

I asked a liquor store manager about this. In Northern California Brizard changed distributors (Young's Market to Southern) at the beginning of this year.

He thought this might be why they seem to have disappeared from many liquor stores. Probably just temporary, at least here.

[boredwiththesea]

Distribution in PA is through SWS. Keep an eye out for a new line of 'modern' flavors thanks to Imperial...

[tribble222]

I asked a liquor store manager about this.  In Northern California Brizard changed distributors (Young's Market to Southern) at the beginning of this year.

He thought this might be why they seem to have disappeared from many liquor stores.  Probably just temporary, at least here.

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Is that why I can't seem to find any Marie Brizard in the East Bay? I moved here recently but the only thing I can find is their blackberry liqueur and that's at BevMo.

[Wild Bill Turkey]

Rather than start a whole new topic on the subject of apricot "brandy", I thought I'd tag my question onto this topic, since the general consensus seems to be that the Marie Brizzard Apry is the best option in this category.

However, as this thread laments, the Brizzard products are very hard to find, and though I did find the Apry at a high-end spirits store here in San Francisco, it was fairly expensive. Easier to find, and only 2/3 the price, is the Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot Liqueur from Haus Alpenz. This sounds delicious, and it's hard to imagine this maker selling me something as empty and flavorless as the Bols apricot brandy I've been using.

Anybody tried both?

[slkinsey]

Have a look over here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=86148

[Wild Bill Turkey]

Thanks, Sam. Found your comparison on page 3 of that thread, and it was just what I was asking for.

I swear I ran searches for both "apricot brandy" and "Apry" before putting up my post, and while I got, as you can imagine, a phone book of listings for threads that contained references to both, I never saw the obvious thread title that you linked to.

[brinza]

Distribution in PA is through SWS. Keep an eye out for a new line of 'modern' flavors thanks to Imperial...

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We have Marie Brizard here? I've yet to see any.