Recently Copper & Kings Distillery managed to purchase Pear Brandy from some Oregon distilleries. It was all 10 years old and aged in a variety of cooperage. A portion of the cooperage was Oregon oak but others were French and Hungarian oak barrels. They finished these brandies by aging them a little longer in toasted American oak barrels. This is a limited supply so they are selling it at the distillery as part of their “Bottle your own Brandy” program. This means an unfiltered and barrel proof product.

Brandon O’Daniel, the Master Distiller at Copper & Kings, is very pleased with the result.  He said that the new toasted barrels add a vanilla creaminess to the finished product that was not in the individual barrels when purchased. Joe Heron, the owner, has said this was a “once in a lifetime purchase”. I am glad he made the purchase. The result is one of the best pear brandies I have ever tasted. Full of pear flavor with just enough barrel influence to make it interesting without dominating the fruit flavor.

Copper & Kings Pear Brandy

Proof: 109

Age: 10 years old

Nose: Ripe pears, vanilla, caramel and a little baking spice – allspice, with some oak wood in the background.

Taste: Pears and baking spices – allspice and maybe a hint of cinnamon, with a little vanilla cream soda sweetness. Tasted with a cranberry and the pear flavor is enhanced and the cinnamon comes forward. Tasted with a pecan and the spice is reduced and the vanilla and caramel come forward.

Finish: Very long. It starts fruity but soon the spice and oak take over giving it a nice dry finish. The cranberry added to the spiciness of the finish and the pecan sweetened the finish with a note of vanilla added to the spice.

I have chosen a Nat Sherman Schrader MMVIII cigar to have with this brandy. The cigar was designed to pair with wine but I also found it stands up well to a Bourbon. The smoke is very simple on its own with flavors of sweet tobacco and hay, but when drinking the pear brandy it really changes. The pear brandy gives the smoke some vanilla and spice notes while the smoke makes the brandy less spicy and sweeter with the fruit and vanilla flavors. This is an excellent pairing for this lovely summer evening on the porch.