Dear friend of fine spirits,
A fabulous new Germain-Robin release, and a repeat notice of something that is selling very well: Germain-Robin Only Once Blend no. 23.
The first of many Only Once Blends. The idea is to bottle, at an affordable level, rich blends that draw on what we think is the most varied and most complex aged inventory in the industry. The variation among our aging distillates, and the balance and complexity that we can create from them, are unparalleled: our 1400 barrels of craft-method brandies represent purified and focused esters from now 26 different Mendocino County premium varietal wine grapes.
The Blends are assembled in a single barrel (about 35 cases), and will contain brandies more than 20 years old. The labels have a bit.ly address with detailed blend info.
Only Once Blend no. 23 focuses on French Colombard, which before phylloxera was the preferred cognac grape. Our Mendocino Colombard brandies become beautifully full and soft as they age. Blend 23 includes Colombards from 1991 and 2006, malolactic-fermented Colombards from 2003 and 2004, and a rich blend assembledfrom our aging stock in 2006 which includes the rarely-distilled and aromatic Viognier. More details here:
http://craftdistillers.com/wp-content/uploads/CD_OnlyOnceInfo5.13.2016.pdf
Only Once Blend no. 23, 408 bottles (42.1% abv, $75). This is a serious bargain: spend $150-200 on the cognac of your choice, then spend time wishing you were drinking this brandy.
Millard Fillmore U. S. Brandy.
This delight is in response to many many requests for a Germain-Robin brandy to use in mixed drinks. Bars find the Craft Method to be A. too expensive and B. too subtle to use in many of their mixed drinks, so they use brandies/cognacs that tend to be either flavorless or harsh and too oaky. Millard does it with flavor. It’s a blend of our precious Germain-Robin potstill brandy with a light & floral brandy distilled in the Central Valley of California on a continuous still. The blend took more than three years to develop: perfect example of craft method production: you have to wait months to find out the real nature of a trial blend. Then you try to improve on it, and wait months again. We learned a lot about what our brandies can do when blended with distillates we didn’t make. Check out:
www.millardfillmorebrandy.com.
The Millard is better than any whiskey or cognac at the price. It contains brandies from aromatic grapes, and a bit of extra oak, so it can show up when used in a cocktail. (40% abv, $35).