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1 12 / the tasting panel / may 2018 CATEGORY REPORT 1 12 / the tasting panel / may 2018 CATEGORY REPORT Copper & Kings American Craft Brandy ($35) Aromatic grape varieties are copper pot–dis- tilled and non-chill-filtered. This 90-proof spirit is matured in Kentucky bourbon and medium-char American oak barrels. The nose is elegant with caramel and summer peach and a hint of vanilla; the palate, meanwhile, becomes more outspoken with a range of flavors from tobacco leaf to orange peel to tongue-trotting black pep- per. The brandy makes a grand statement for the domestic-produced category. 94 —M.M. Copper & Kings Butchertown Brandy ($60) Butchertown in Louisville, according to the label of this 124-proof spirit, is said to be home of "butchers, brawlers, bakers and brewers, artists and artisans, orphans and everything in between since 1796." The full-throttle nose offers scents of a flower garden with dripping, honeyed apricot nectar drizzled on the petals. Power-punching the palate is a lineup of saddle leather, orange peel, roasted nuts, and spiced vanilla wafers with an off-dry finish. 93 —M.M. COPPER & KINGS Monarch Migration: Copper & Kings Copper & Kings always seems to take the road less traveled. After throwing the rulebook for the European tradition of brandy out the window, the company devel- oped its own American-made line within the category. Pure pot-distilled, non-chill filtered, and unadulterated by added sugar, boisé (oak flavor infusion) or caramel color, its spirits are aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels for a unique fruit- forward, intense, modern interpretation of the country's original spirit. Copper & Kings' Butchertown Brandy is produced in four-barrel batches, with three bourbon barrels marrying with one new American oak barrel. The American Craft Brandy, meanwhile, features a blend of roughly 85 percent Kentucky bourbon barrels and 15 percent new American oak. And to honor the iconic barrier that protects Copper & Kings hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, from the Ohio River, Floodwall American Craft Apple Brandy (SRP $40) is aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels and 250-liter Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks for a minimum of four years. But why stop after reinventing American brandy? Copper & Kings has now set its sights on redefining American gin. By avoiding the presence of any neutral spirits, its products represent the first truly new dif- ferentiated gin expressions in some time and instead use a double-distilled brandy base with no post-distillation addition of gin flavors. With a brandy made from fresh-pressed apples as its base, the American Dry Gin (SRP $35) also includes classic botanicals like whole juniper berries, coriander, angelica, and orris. The second expression, the 100-proof American Old Tom Gin (SRP $40), draws inspiration from "Old Tom" Chamberlain—a well-known name in gin lore. With grape brandy as its base, the spirit is also polished in Kentucky bourbon barrels. The newest addition to the line, The Moons of Juniper Dry Gin (SRP $40), is an amplified juniper gin with a grape brandy base that's distilled with honey, sweet orange peel, coriander, cardamom, angelica, and grains of paradise. "Our ambition is to be America's most imaginative brandy producer, and also to perhaps aspire to be its most inven- tive gin distiller," says Copper & Kings Founder Joe Heron. "We're looking at exploring across the universe."