Maker: Uncle John’s Fruit House Winery, St. John’s, Michigan, USA
Distiller: Red Cedar, East Lansing, Michigan, USA (From Uncle John’s own cider)
Age: NAS (2-6 y/o)
ABV: 45%
Price: Don’t remember/375 ml. Only available at the winery. Complimentary bottle.
Appearance: Bright copper.
Nose: Apple cider, cola, caramel, leather.
Palate: Sweet and medium bodied. Salted caramel, candy apple, alcohol.
Finish: Lavender, raisins, toasted oak. Long.
Mixed: I tried this brandy in two cocktails, both of which put the brandy front and center. The first was the classic Jack Rose (with lime juice and grenadine). It was good. The second was the Marconi Wireless (basically an apple brandy Manhattan). It was just OK. The pungent sweet vermouth I used overwhelmed the brandy.
Parting words: From my “A Visit to Uncle John’s“: “We then moved on to the really good stuff, apple brandy. They have twelve barrels aging at the Cider Mill. They have two different types of barrels to age their brandy. Some is aged in toasted French oak (in barrels intended for Calvados) and some in Michigan oak barrels, also toasted. The Michigan oak barrels were sourced by St. Julien’s to be distributed to wineries across the state. Mike prefers the French oak barrels but again credits St. Julien’s with doing a good thing for wineries in the state by facilitating the use of home grown wood in wine and spirits production. It’s a cool thing for a Michigan producer to be able to say that [its] product has been aged in Michigan oak.”
Uncle John’s Apple Brandy was fine mixed, but it’s really a back porch neat sipping brandy. I don’t remember the price but I don’t remember it being unreasonable for a half sized bottle. It’s made in very limited quantities (currently sold out) so get some if you’re ever in the Lansing area. Uncle John’s Apple Brandy is recommended.
Sipology 