2 | Spirits | American Brandy, California

"Dark gold. Light to medium bodied. Mild. Mandarin orange, toasted almond. Easy, delicate, very fruity style. A sensation of sweetness without being sweet."

Unbelievable quality for the price. Outscored Delamain Pale and Dry, Martell Cordon Bleu, and four other noted cognacs in expert blind tastings (1989). Based on our first (1987) release,Lot 27 is no longer the same animal. We have learned a lot about when to harvest, how to vinify, how to distill, how to blend. Plus, we have an older cellar. We still like the youthful fruit of 5-year-old brandies (apple and pear), but we also like the deeper flavors that come from more age, trending towards plum/apricot. The blend is very rich, with 10-year-old Colombard, some Riesling, and a touch of Zinfandel. There is also a solera enrichment: Joe Corley rolls over earlier lots into the ongoing blends.

Distilled by hand on our antique cognac still, blended from an appealling mix of richly fruited brandies and deeper, oakier, andmore mature distillates. Some of the brandies date back to our earliest distillations. Plenty of pinot noir brandy in the blend; tons of flavor and a finish that lasts for about 50 miles. Superior to major-house XO cognacs. “Dark and brooding” – Joe Corley.

Based on brandies distilled from pinot noir. Very complex, very elegant, very smooth. The pinot noir shows up in the incredible finish—subtle yet wonderfully rich fruit. In our blind tastings, you have to spend about double – Delamain Trés Vénérable, say, or Ferrand’s Abel – to match it. In 1999, Robb Report picked this as the world’s best distilled spirit, period.Ten barrels/year (fewer than 400 cases).