About the Producer
Catoctin Creek is a small craft distillery out of Purcellville, VA, about an hour out of DC. They were founded in 2009, making them one of the earlier craft distilleries in the state. They mostly focus on making rye under their Roundstone rye brandy but have several other products including gin and brandy. In addition to the XO bottled in bond brandy I’m today, they have a younger and lower proof brandy as well as peach, pear and apple brandies.
Details
- Bottled in bond
- 50% abv as required for bottled in bond.
- No age statement on the bottle but says 10yrs on their website.
- Fermented and distilled from blend of Virginia grapes including Vidal Blanc and Chambourcin.
- No details on casks but their lower end brandy uses French Oak red wine casks, I’d imagine this bottle does too given the color.
- Got on sale for $60, usually $85.
Nose
Fruity, tannic and winey. Complex fruitiness and raisins, cranberries and light citrus. Bone dry. Is complex but the winey notes are unbalanced.
Palate
Same as the nose, very tannic, winey, fruity and bond dry. The red wine notes dominate with a lot of tannins; is unbalanced with all the tannins. Fruitiness is again pretty complex with black berries, raspberries and cranberries. Some oak and nondescript baking spice. Full bodied and full flavored with a syrupy texture. Would like for either the tannins to reigned in for for there to be more sweetness to balance it out. Right now the distillate is overpowered.
Finish
Long and dry with lots of tannins and dried berries.
Rating: 5
Overall
This is a tough one, it’s full bodied, full flavored and complex but very unbalanced with the red wine notes and tannins that overpower the distillate. Right now I’ll say this is a good but not great brandy that could be better if they modified the aging regime a bit.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite
10 | Perfect | Perfect
Leave a Reply