Alan Bishop is making great whiskey at the Spirits of French Lick Distillery in Indiana, but one of his passions is making apple brandy. Indiana has a great heritage of making apple brandy. In the 19th century, Indiana was well known for making apple brandy and selling it to Kentucky liquor merchants as well as the Indiana market. Alan is keeping this heritage alive with the Old Clifty Apple Brandy. This brandy has been aged for four years in used cooperage. Alan recently sent me a bottle and Matt and I tasted it for review. Here are our tasting notes.

Old Clifty Apple Brandy

Proof: 100

Age: Four Years Old

Nose:

  • Mike: Apples and vanilla with a hint of baking spices and oak wood.
  • Matt: Apples and cinnamon with honeysuckle and oak wood.

Taste:

  • Mike: Rich apple flavor with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the apple is enhanced and a bit of caramel comes out. Tasted with a pecan and rich, creamy caramel and apple with oak wood.
  • Matt: Caramel and apples with cinnamon spice and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out a note of French burnt peanuts. The pecan brought out notes of chocolate and peanut butter.

Finish:

  1. Mike: Medium long and dry with apple, oak and cinnamon spice. The dried cranberry enhanced the apple in the finish. The pecan made the finish very long with apples, oak and lingering caramel.
  2. Matt: Medium long with oak and apples. The dried cranberry added a smoky, nutty quality to the finish. The pecan added a buttery toffee note to the finish.

I would pair this Brandy with a Drew Estate Undercrown Maduro cigar. The vanilla and cedar spice would pair well with the apple and cinnamon of the brandy.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller