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Your Vintage Assessments Guide to Spirits - Fall 1999

As you know, it has been almost impossible to cram all the fine products I taste every month into my newsletter.  The LCBO Vintage Releases are almost twice the size from a few years ago meaning that I have much less space for other products.  To make up for this I have contributed major features to other publications - check out the current October issue of Wine Access for my comprehensive look at Gin.  It’s a shame that many recommended spirits get only a brief spotlight in the Vintages release catalogue.  In this vein, our spirits section will focus on the best buy spirits available, as well as those on the General List like our Best Buy from the August issue, the Ponche Caballero an Orange Brandy Liqueur from Spain.  Other gems await you.  For instance, small quantities of the wonderful Louis Royer Single Distillery Cognacs are still available at certain Vintage stores across the province. My tasting notes (page 3 from my 1998 November issue) are reproduced below.

New finds this month come from Andrew Stodart and The Brands Group.  This is a new company dedicated to introducing special spirits into the Ontario market.  Their first product London Burning Gin didn’t make the deadline for my recent Gin feature in the October issue of Wine Access magazine), but let me say that it is definitely Recommended.  It’s recently been listed at $24.25 on the General List (cspc 534644).  The botanicals are in perfect balance with an exciting, tangy, honeyed, tangerine and ginger taste that I find extremely refreshing without any harshness.  It’s a *** elixir that is bound to become a smash success. Another amazing spirit is a black vodka called Blavod, well you will have to try it to believe it – it makes a killer Martini.  At $22.95 (cspc 537712) it presents and new departure for Martini fans.  Both products are available on the General List! For availability call (416) 502-3581.

Recent Items from Vintages Release
Liqueur - Hungary

October 16^th Release - A Vintage Assessments Explorer’s Selection!
V 390286 ‘BECHEROVKA’                                                              700 mL   $ 21.95
Karlsbader                                                                     Sweet, Spicy & Well Balanced **+
Becher, Germany Krauter Liqueur Spezialitat
(Underberg) (200 Cases @ 6) (38%)  [Mie Age]
Light yellow colour.  Very spicy, sweet herbal nose - shades of Chartreuse.  Sweet, spicy, rounded, very herbal, honeyed, hot orange purée and baked apple flavours.  Wonderful clean lingering herbal finish.

Liqueur - France

September 11^th Release - A Vintage Assessments Release Highlight!
V 393934 GREEN CHARTREUSE V.E.P.                                        500 mL   $ 44.90
In Wooden Gift Box                                                                Sweet, Pungent & Herbal ***
(Chartreuse Diffusion S.A. -
L. Garnier) (50 Cases @ 6) (54%)  [Nob Est]
Light lime green colour.  Extremely pungent, almost overwhelming, sweet, very herbal, floral, citrus peel nose.  Wonderfully, fragrant, intense, sweet but balanced, viscous, zesty citrus and strong herbal flavours.  Tremendous finish.  A little goes a long way - I love it!  ‘EVP’ means vieillissement exceptionellement prolongée indicating that it was aged in wood for a minimum of 12 years.

The Quest for a New Orange Elixir

I recently received a sample of a new orange liqueur from the Grand Marnier (‘GM’ for short), one of my favourite houses.  Now admittedly, my consumption of this elixir has been depressed over the past few years.  And so I was exited to receive their new Cuvée Louis-Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle which is named after its venerable inventor.  Indeed, it was 100 years ago that the regular GM liqueur won an award at the World’s Fair in Paris.  The special bottle comes in a fancy blue box and it isn’t cheap at $69.95!  So God bless the marketing department at P. Mielzynski Agencies!  Well after much sipping, I discovered that I actually preferred the sweeter, more pungently tangerine tasting, original edition (at only $41.95). 

This led me to explore orange liqueurs in the just-released Autumn 1999 edition of The Price Book from the LCBO. These booklets get out of date very quickly so if you need any additional information call the LCBO Infoline at 1-800-ONT-LCBO!   Most useful is the list of stores, phone numbers and the names of product consultants found on pages xxx to xxxiii .

All this rambling essentially relates to how I wanted to find out how many orange liqueurs were at the LCBO.  Well there are 13 - not a lucky number.  I spotted one I had written about several years ago Ponche Caballero.  I retrieved the dusty remnant bottle from my cabinet and poured a round for my friends.  Wow, it was delicious and hit the spot.  Better yet, at only a fraction of the price of French heavy hitters.  No need to feel sheepish about the distinctive, bright, silver bottle.  It’s the contents that count! 

Recommended by Vintage Assessments!
G 894923 ‘Ponche Caballero’                                                                         $ 17.60
(Luis Caballero) (28%)                                                                        Spicy Marmalade **+
Spain’s largest selling liqueur (8th worldwide!) is a special blend of Spanish Brandy, spices, oranges, plums, almond kernels, etc.  Sweet, zesty, Seville orange marmalade nose.  Rounded and yet fairly refreshing on the palate with sweet, honeyed, candied orange rind flavours and touch of spice (cinnamon and cloves) on the finish.  A crowd pleaser, this one will be a winner served slightly chilled straight up!  • A BEST BUY! •

*** Louis Royer’s Single Distillery Regional Cognacs ***
In Vintages Stores Only
(call info line to find location)

The house of Louis Royer has introduced a series of five single distillery Cognacs each being 100% of the appellation in which they reside.  Like wines, each Cognac is a reflection of the soil and microclimate in which the grapes were grown along with the type of pot-still used and aging in cask.  It is a shame that these fine spirits were not presented to the LCBO consultants for assessment.  Fortunately for readers, Don Lawson of Schiralli agencies had the foresight to organize a media preview tasting at the Ontario Club.  Here are the results:

Recommended by Vintage Assessments!
952754 BON BOIS COGNAC                                                                      $ 39.85
(DIST. CHANTAL)                                                              Fresh Prunes & Vanilla **+    
(270 Cases @ 6)  [Sch Age] (LCBO stock as of September 11 – 736 bottles)      
Forget the VS, this is probably as good as a relative inexpensive Cognac can get!  The youngest of the group with approximately three years of aging, it has a very pleasant, rather sweet, fruity nose with lots of prunes and fresh dates.  Very fruity, bright, pleasant, well balanced, honeyed ripe prune with gentle vanilla flavours.  A Cognac of great charm which is perfect after an elegant mid day meal.

Recommended by Vintage Assessments!
952739 COGNAC BORDERIES                                                       500 mL   $ 49.85
(DIST. DES SAULES)                                                          Refined & Well Balanced **+
(160 Cs @ 6)  [Sch Age] (LCBO stock as of September 11 – 472 bottles)   
With eight years of aging, this Borderies has a lovely, rounded, elegant, gently sweetish toffee nose that opens in the glass.  Refined, elegant, firm but rounded, gently honeyed, dried pear flavours.  Clean refined finish with hints of toffee. 

Recommended by Vintage Assessments!
952721 COGNAC GRANDE CHAMPAGNE                                   500 mL   $ 69.85
(DIST. LES MAGNOLIAS)                                                                 Rich & Rounded ***
(80 Cases @ 6)  [Sch Age] (LCBO stock as of September 11 – 135 bottles)   
The nose of this Grande Champagne becomes much more complex and attractive with 15 years of aging ~ rounded, rich, faintly spicy, vanilla stick notes with a very subtle hint of a fine old bourbon.  Firm and gently peppery with red peppercorn and sweet caramel flavours.  Fine lingering finish.  Les Magnolias distillery produces only 7,000 cases a year!