Osborne 1866 Solera Gran Reserva Brandy, 1 x 700ml

Product Information

Every last Thursday of November at midnight, a celebration of Beaujolais Nouveau is widely celebrated. Although the distillation is certainly important, most of the typical character comes afterwards. Maturation is what turns a regular brandy into sherry brandy. I find it a little strange that a Málaga-based brandy that wasn’t certified to be a Brandy de Jerez can be “transformed” into a premium sherry brandy with certification. Let’s assume they have greatly upgraded the liquid itself too. Mind that this review was written based on the old version (bottled +/- 2016).

Lepanto is the only brandy distilled entirely in pot stills and the only one actually distilled in Jerez All sherry types are used for brandy maturation, but the most common are Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez which have the richest flavours. Often multiple types of casks are used to give the brandy a complex mixture of flavour profiles.Status: New application awaiting assignment to an examining attorney. See current trademark processing wait times for more information. Top single malt scotch 16-25 YO: The GlenDronach Distillery, 16 YO Boynsmill Single Malt Scotch Whisky Nowadays their portfolio exists of the younger Veterano and Magno (sometimes Brandy de Jerez, sometimes simple spirit drinks depending on their ABV and age), the lower-end Carlos III and Felipe II ( Brandy Solera Reserva, under 3 years of age) and the more up-market Carlos I, Alma de Magno and Conde de Osborne ( Brandy Solera Gran Reserva, aged for 3 years or more). INTENSE AND BALANCED. Mahogany coloured with bright amber tones and topaz highlights. Prevailing aromas of caramel, vanilla, dates and toasted hazelnuts. Smooth on the tongue, with an elegant finish featuring touches of toffee and wood

Top single malt scotch 15 YO and under: Chivas Brothers, Ballantine’s The Glenburgie 12 YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky Little is known about the product itself, except that it is produced from Airén grapes from La Mancha and aged in a system of criaderas and solera.

Lepanto Solera Gran Reserva (36%, González Byass, Brandy de Jerez)

Nose: rather oaky, with pencil shavings and peppery notes. Hints of vanilla, orange peels and brown sugar. Underneath is an alcoholic note, making it a bit rougher than I’d like. At the end of November in Andorra, an annual conference of winemakers takes place, where wine producers from Europe and other countries of the world come and have the opportunity to taste the best wine brands. Lepanto is the place of a famous 16th century naval battle, near Patras in Greece, where the Spanish Armada was defeated by the Ottomans.

After the leas (bits of skin, pips, etc…) have been decanted, the base wines were traditionally double-distilled in copper pot stills, called alquitaras. The stills were heated directly by a holm-oak fire. Nowadays most of the distilling is done using column stills which is more efficient (continuous distillation).So a higher alcohol strength means less flavour congeners. To create a Brandy de Jerez you can use all three types of spirits. However the lower strength (less pure) holandas must always represent a minimum of 50% of the final brandy to guarantee enough typical flavours. In 2009 the brands Veterano (from Osborne) and Soberano (from González Byass), once market leaders in the category of Brandy de Jerez, decided to lower their alcohol volume below the required minimum of 36% set by the Consejo Regulador. First to 33% and then as low as 30%. This strategic decision placed them outside of the denomination of origin and meant they could no longer use the name. Instead they are now simply spirit drinks which have totally different rules and therefore a much lower production cost. They’re not necessarily pure wine spirits and they’re much younger than the original Brandy de Jerez. A lot of bodegas also have ultra-premium brandies of very high ages, e.g. El Maestro Sierra Brandy Gran Reserva (40+ yo), Romate Cardenal Mendoza Non Plus Ultra (50+ yo) or Bodegas Tradición Brandy Platinum (50+ yo).