What brandy would you recommend?

[Over The Hill]

With Brandy it is a bit of a minefield. The branded ones are rather expensive and then if you go too cheap they are rubbish.

We have found that of the bottom end brandy, Tesco's Three Barrels stands out and really is as good as a much more expensive brand.

This along with a bottle of Ginger Wine and a bottle of dark Port see us through the winter quite well.

 

[Beebo]

I live by the mantra
Brandy makes you randy,
whiskey makes you frisky
and Beer makes you .....
Hope that helps.

 

[accountantpete]

Glayva (pronounced glarva I think) is a nice sweet tasting whisky based liqueur.

 

[Ron-da-Valli]

Benedictine. Try "Bene & hot", Benedictine and hot water as drunk by the soldiers of Burnley and Accrington during the First World War. They drink more Benedictine in Burnley than anywhere else.

 

[Aperitif]

Whatever you do, avoid Calvados at all costs. It's vile. I'm not a big fan of Cognac either. It's like sipping Nitromors. Try Metaxa, Greek brandy. It's a bit sweet but slips down very easily after a meal in a Greek restaurant. Five star is fine. It's fabulous with Greek coffee.

What, Martin? Wash you mouth out with...er Calvados. And none of that Greek rubbish either.
Each year, I buy from my friend Pouilloux, who I'll see...on Friday afternoon, here! XO, but even the VSOP is top quality.

 

[Dave7]

Generally speaking Cognac is better/smoother that brandy as by law it must be fermented in certain ways (cant remember exact details). Before I get shot down........I know there are many beautiful brandies and I have had excellent Spanish ones.
For general drinking Aldy's own cognac @ £15.99 is very good....IMO on a par with Courvoisier.
BTW.......try mixing it with a nice ruby port-it is SOOOO warming and tasty.

 

[theclaud]

What, Martin? Wash you mouth out with...er Calvados. And none of that Greek rubbish either.
Each year, I buy from my friend Pouilloux, who I'll see...on Friday afternoon, here! XO, but even the VSOP is top quality.

If this is what Teef has in his hip flask, then I second the recommendation. Other than that, I buy my mum the odd bottle of Hine VSOP, which is rather good.

 

[Aperitif]

[QUOTE 3397129, member: 259"]Nice! But their Pineau is still en cours de construction. [/QUOTE]
Yes nuisance that, Mort. One of the highlights is the flask of eau de vie he has for demo purposes. At the Salon, an instant lesson involves drinking the neat rocket fuel - 80% or thereabouts and then following it through time and multiple distillations until reaching the amber. From 'almost' undrinkable ...to nectar. And we all stand around nodding knowledgeably as the glasses are filled and refilled. He always throws in a free bottle of Pineau de Charentes. The short lecture always takes place after the afternoon's heavies from Domaine Gille. Then we'll have a beer, and maybe a few bottles, perhaps a bit of food then some more cognac.

If this is what Teef has in his hip flask, then I second the recommendation. Other than that, I buy my mum the odd bottle of Hine VSOP, which is rather good.

It is - or was. All gone now - in the interests of recherche du temps perdu.

 

[Bollo]

It is - or was. All gone now - in the interests of recherche du temps perdu.

Are you getting juiced with Proust?

 

[jongooligan]

A drop of rum does the trick. This one is quite special. Drink it neat, don't spoil the taste by polluting it with anything at all.

 

[Chromatic]

If this is what Teef has in his hip flask, then I second the recommendation. Other than that, I buy my mum the odd bottle of Hine VSOP, which is rather good.

theclaud is of course correct, Hine are rather good, they are my personal fav. I eventually managed to find this here from when something similar was discussed before:
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/whisky-question.91829/post-1665449

 

[jongooligan]

[QUOTE 3397537, member: 259"]I'm fond of a drop of rum, but I think @vernon is the forum expert. I used to go to Sri Lanka quite a bit, and I got to like Arrack a lot. There is crap Arrack, but you also get really smooth, aged, triple distilled stuff which is the equal of fine brandy any day - they just don't export any of the good stuff.[/QUOTE]

Maybe @vernon will be along with some recommendations - hope so. I'm also fond of malt and calvados but not that keen on clear spirits. If I want rough I'll go for a grappa.

 

[vernon]

[QUOTE 3397537, member: 259"]I'm fond of a drop of rum, but I think @vernon is the forum expert. I used to go to Sri Lanka quite a bit, and I got to like Arrack a lot. There is crap Arrack, but you also get really smooth, aged, triple distilled stuff which is the equal of fine brandy any day - they just don't export any of the good stuff.[/QUOTE]

I was lucky enough to buy a decent bottle of Arrack at the Sri Lankan exhibition at Expo '98 in Lisbon. I've not managed to get anything withn Arrack on the label that has matched its smoothness since.

I'd not consider myself to be a rum expert but my favoured tipples are the Appletons' range of rums. They are owned by Wray and Nephew who make my favourite overproof white cane spirit.

I've bought some spiced rum for my boy's Christmas presents. They cant cope with the over proof stuff. It's very tasty.

An unusual dark rum to savour is OVD - Old Vatted Demerara. Made in Guyana and bottled for George Morton in Glasgow. It has a loyal following in Scotland and has startewd to turn up on supermarket shelves in England.

 

[vernon]

No self respecting rum drinker would ride a bike that didn't colour co-ordinate with his favourite tipple. I even had the carpet changed.

 

[subaqua]

These go really well with brandy..

rich parras by you then if they can afford brandy