Thursday, October 13, 2016

Apple Brandy Week: Arkansas Black 21


I'm wrapping up Apple Brandy Week with Arkansas Black, a sourced apple brandy bottled by a Northern California company. Their regular applejack is made from Arkansas Black apples and is distilled at Clear Creek in Oregon. Today, I'm tasting the 21 year old. I don't know if that also comes from Clear Creek or is from elsewhere. UPDATE: Drinkhacker reports that the source of this brandy was a "California brandy family."

Arkansas Black 21 yo Straight Applejack, 46% abv ($110)

The nose has apples, oak and light butterscotch bourbon notes. It smells sort of like Evan Williams. On the palate, it's got a strong canned pineapple note. The finish is dominated by bourbon notes. This is a curious one, fruity on the palate with a bourbon-like finish.

I wasn't a huge fan of this one. It was indistinct without much in the way of apple flavor. It would be interesting to know what type of cask it was aged in.

Thanks for joining me for Apple Brandy Week. If you've enjoyed all this brandy talk, check out the new Facebook Group Serious Brandy, for people interested in reviewing and discussing brandies of all types.


2 comments:

My Annoying Opinions said...

What's going on with the label?

sku said...

I'm not sure what you mean. The label on my bottle was scratched on the top.