If you’re into vintage — your dad’s aviators, reclaimed wood counters, old military watches — then it doesn’t get much more old school than apple brandy, a spirit distilled from the hard cider of fermented fresh apples and then aged in oak. Though it was distilled in Normandy slightly earlier (today it’s called Calvados there), apple brandy was the spirit of the day in American Colonial times, made by some of our founding fathers at Mt. Vernon and Monticello. Though its mainstream role in America’s drinking culture was killed off by cheap corn and grain and Prohibition, craft distillers are keeping the American tradition alive with small-batch apple brandies that would make a Frenchman drop his cheese plate: they range from rustic and fiery to smooth and complex, the best brushing up against the flavors of Cognac (made with grapes). These three are among the best you can get your pie- and freedom-loving paws on.
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Clear Creek Eau de Vie de Pomme
Portland-based Clear Creek makes one of the most respected apple brandies in the United States. It’s made with Golden Delicious apples from the Yakima Valley and then aged in a combination of old and new Limousin oak Cognac barrels for eight years or more, producing a spirit with a pale golden color that smells like apples, grass, herbs and spice.
Tasting Notes: It’s smooth and relatively light bodied, unfolding in the mouth with the flavor of apple cobbler with plenty of cinnamon and an oaky finish. Some tasters found chemical notes, but overall we think it makes an excellent after-dinner drink.
