About the Producer
Copper and Kings of Louisville, KY is one of the most prominent craft brandy producers in the US. They go after a very bourbony profile with aging in ex-bourbon barrels and new charred oak and they are even on the KY Bourbon Trail.
Copper and Kings uses exclusively pot distillation and in the past was a mix of their own distillate and sourced brandy. They told me in a recent distillery visit that they are almost exclusively using their own distillate now. For their own distillate they use California grapes and ferment in CA and have the wines shipped to KY for distillation. Their aging cellar has music pumped into it 24/7 and they claim the vibrations adds to the aging. Kind of gimmicky but it doesn’t hurt anything.
NOTE: I bought this brandy at the distillery back in 2024, It’s unlikely that there are any around.
Details
- Made from 100% Zinfandel grapes
- Treated like a red wine before distillation
- Aged for ~6 years in Zinfandel barrels
- 50% abv
- Double pot distilled.
Nose
Red wine overload. Black raspberries, oak. It’s good but the wine casks dominate.
Palate
Again red wine is still this most prominent flavor wit ht he raspberry, oak and chocolate still coming through. A bit more of the brandy shines through with white grape jelly, caramel and honey. It’s tannic, full bodied, dry with medium flavor intensity.
Finish
Medium spicy with a tannic feel.
Rating: 5
Overall
A good brandy but the red wine casks dominate. At that point I’d rather get a Zinfandel wine. Kind of odd that they released this at 100 proof when most of their distillery releases are cask strength. Maybe it was too tannic otherwise? Either way solid but you aren’t missing much if you haven’t tried it.
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