The Copper & Kings Distillery is a Brandy distillery located in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. They make fine brandy and have branched off into making a Bourbon, but making it their way by finishing it in apple brandy barrels. They make a fine apple brandy that is full of apple flavor and some of that flavor is passed on to the Bourbon, but not too much. I like the fact that the brandy complements the Bourbon and does not overpower it. I received a bottle of this Bourbon the other day and Matt and I sat down to taste it. Here are our tasting notes.

Copper & Kings Butchertown Bourbon Finished in Apple Brandy Casks

Proof: 111

Age: No Age Statement

Nose:

  • Mike: Vanilla, apples, baking spices and oak wood.
  • Matt: Caramel, brown sugar, apples, cinnamon and oak wood.

Taste:

  • Mike: Vanilla, apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the apple and cinnamon are enhanced and a bit of fine leather comes forward. Tasted with a pecan and the Bourbon becomes very spicy with cardamom and white pepper.
  • Matt: Caramel apple pie, white pepper and oak wood. The dried cranberry brought out cinnamon spice to join the party. The pecan brought out flavors of rich caramel, dark chocolate and oak.

Finish:

  • Mike: Medium long with oak baking spices and lingering apple sweetness. The dried cranberry made the finish very long with oak and white pepper spice with lingering apple. The pecan made the finish very long and added notes of dark chocolate to the finish with lots of oak wood and pepper spice.
  • Matt: Medium long with oak wood and pepper jelly. The dried cranberry brought out cinnamon in the finish. The pecan made the finish very long and spicy with cinnamon and black pepper spice.

I would pair this Bourbon with a cigar that has lots of vanilla and cedar spice in the smoke. I think I would reach for a RoMaCraft Cro-Magnon cigar.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller