Trailblazing producers are creating a truly American style of brandy

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When Heron founded the company in 2014 , he introduced an adventurous new dynamic , with a proliferation of as many as four new product launches a year . These include everything from brandies aged in craft beer barrels , rye whiskey casks and tequila barrels to Geogr & phy Bi-Continental Brandewijn , a blending of South African and American brandies .

Copper & Kings produces “ American brandy that is definitive , not derivative of a European tradition , and built on a modern energetic platform vs . a traditional brand persona ,” says Heron . He ’ s far from alone in this focus . “ American brandy seems to be gaining vibrancy right now , after years of stagnant sales ( for the category overall ),” says Kim Roberts , director of marketing , spirits business unit for E . & J . Gallo Winery . “ Many American brandy offerings are focusing on their fruit expression and smooth taste , which is appealing for newcomers to the category .”

Gallo recently launched the Argonaut label , which sources from the company ’ s extensive vineyards , and uses both Coffey and alembic pot stills . Current Argonaut expressions include Speculator , Fat Thumb , Saloon Strength ( on-premise only ) and the limited release , The Claim .

“ All spirits have come in and out of favor with generations , I think the pendulum swung for a long period of time out of favor for American brandy , but it is coming back in full force and looks like it will be here to stay ,” says Jeff Bell at Bertoux Brandy . The PDT mixologist teamed with NoMad somm Thomas Pastuszak to create a Solera-style blend of pot-distilled California brandies aged three to seven years in French and American oak .

New directions come from experimentation by both established names

BY THOMAS HENRY STRENK and new players . An American style

has emerged , with a nod to terroir .

Intrigued by whiskey , consumers are exploring other brown spirits , which should give a boost to American brandy . And these new directions offer much to discover .

NEW DIRECTIONS “ The next chapter in American brandy is now being written , as we explore what American brandy can be ,” says Chip Tate , president and head distiller of Tate & Co . Distillery in Waco , Texas .

Recent history has been dominated by big brands making conventional brandies with table grape varietals , or by the French school of craft traditions . Not that this is necessarily bad , but it does tend to be restrictive . Tate himself has taken a new direction : the former founder of Balcones Distilling traded whiskey for brandy . At the recently established Tate & Co ., he experiments with grapes indigenous to Texas . Currently , he has laid down stocks of zinfandel-based brandy .

“ American Brandy is definitely rising . But the new wave is actually quite old school in some ways — the original craft distillers in the 1980 ’ s were all brandy distillers ,” says Joe Heron , co-owner of Copper & Kings American Brandy Co . in Louisville , Kentucky .

FACTORS FOR CHANGE What ’ s driving this change in direction for the category ?

“ The emergence of craft distilling has allowed many producers to focus on a host of products , and with such explosive growth it ’ s natural that someone was going to focus on brandy ,” says Scott Harris , founder and general manager of Catoctin Creek Distillery . Early next year , the Virginia-based producer will introduce 1757 Virginia Brandy , 8-year-old Bottled in Bond , made from a blend of Seyval blanc and Chambourcin grapes grown within 10 miles of the distillery .

“ The rise of cocktail culture has had a major influence on the category , as brandy cocktails have a long and rich history in America ,” says Elizabeth Hurst , brand manager at Heaven Hill for Christian Brothers Brandy . The company recently introduced Sacred Bond Bottled- In-Bond , with bartenders ’ needs in mind . Sacred Bond is the only grape bottled-inbond brandy on the market . It ’ s produced in copper pot

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