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: This brandy was put out many years ago, several years before the new ownership in 2025. It is likely that this bottle is filled with mostly sourced distillate
Details
- Likely a blend of their own and soruced distillate
- 5.5% abv
- Unknown age
- Finished in 3 Floyds stout barrels
- Double pot distilled.
Nose
Milk chocolate and very dark roasted coffee. Brandy comes through as tart blackberries and marachino cherries. Stout cask works better than I expected. Good.
Palate
A bit unbalanced but all the individual flavors are good and mostly transfer over from the nose. Stout cask really cost through with the chocolate and coffee. Has a good amount of heat. Complex but lacks balance. Medium sweetness, body and flavor intensity.
Finish
Medium and dry with dark chocolate.
Rating: 5
Overall
Overall: Complex and interesting but somewhat unbalanced and a bit too much heat for what it is. I could go either way on this. Still decent but one of the weaker options from Copper and Kings.
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