About the Producer
This is an interesting one that sent me down an interesting rabbit hole of American brandies. My wife and I were surprised to find not just this brandy but a whole range of brandies when we visited Nashoba Valley winery earlier this year. When we asked about it the worker at the winery indicated that there were actually a lot of local-ish places that produced some type of brandy. When I got home I did some digging and found 5 places in MA, 6 places in CT and >10 places in NY that make brandy that are all within ~2hrs from where I live. Since then I’ve been trying to visit or try them all. So regardless of the quality of product, 10/10 for sending me on a fun ride.
Nashoba Valley Winery was started back in 1893 by Jack Partridge; he operated this until 1995 when he sold it to the current owners Rich and Cindy Pelletier. The winery grows Chardonnay, Riesling, St Croix, Cab Franc and Vignoles grapes in addition to many type of apples, peaches and nectarines.
I have no idea when the winery grew into a distillery, but they claim to have MA DSP-1 and that they are the oldest farm distillery in MA. The distillery makes 2 different grapes brandies, pear and apple brandies, malt whiskies, vodka rum and gin.
Details
• Aged 8yrs in American oak barrel.
• Single barrel.
• 40% abv
• From estate grown Vignoles grapes
• Double distilled using a 250 gal hybrid pot/column still from Vendome and an 80 gal Carl still.
Nose
Caramel. White whine. Good amount of oak. Fennel. Hints of mint and spice. Delicate but balanced and with some complexity.
Palate
Lightly sweet with a lot of caramel. Toasted oak and more fennel. Light fruitiness with cooked peaches. Texture isn’t hard but doesn’t enhance the experience either. Again good flavors and some complexity but more delicate than I’d like.
Finish
Short. Oak and white wine
Rating: 5
Overall
A solid brandy. A hair unconventional with some of the herbal notes but I think that just added complexity. Main flaw is the lake of strength. Could be killer at 45%.
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
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