The winner of the Best American Grape Brandy is Argonaut from Fat Thumb Brandy. Fat Thumb is produced at the McCall Distillery in Sanger, California, and is owned by E & J Gallo. Cardenal Mendoza Solera Spanish Brandy began when the company owners decided to create a brandy for themselves to enjoy. They wanted something unique and different, and certainly something high-quality. Word of this amazing brandy slowly began to make rounds, despite its private nature. The Best Cognac Extra Aged/Vintage Category was won by Gautier for its Tradition Rare Vieille Reserve Cognac.

On the palate its sweet, with powerful flavors of dark raisins and dried figs, some herbal notes of dried tea and a hint of peppermint, along with orange marmalade and a bit of dark chocolate. Mouth: very smooth, slightly sweeter than expected. Still a light (now slightly syrupy) fruitiness with more pronounced vanilla. Golden raisins, almonds and honey again. Hints of praline and latte in the end. Medium length, raisiny finish. Torres 30 Brandy Reserva is an impressive, ultra-premium expression that sits at the top of the Spanish brandy category. It’s won many awards including a handful of Gold medals at both the San Francisco Spirits Competition and the International Spirits Challenge. Each extraction from the solera is called a saca. Up to a quarter of a barrel’s contents can be extracted at any one time. The brandy removed is replaced with brandy from the next oldest criadera until all of the criaderas have been filled. The youngest criadera is topped up with new spirit. Extractions can take place as often as every four months or as infrequently as once a year, or even once every two years.Brandy bodegas in Jerez are required to utilize a solera system of fractional blending. The solera consists of a series of barrels called criaderas (nurseries in Spanish). Each criadera is numbered. It can consist of one to hundreds of barrels. All the barrels in a criadera hold brandy of the same average age. A bodega may have anywhere from three to as many as 45 different criaderas. The oldest criadera is called the solera. These are the barrels from which the brandy destined for bottling is extracted. The US historically had a long-standing tradition of brandy production. That tradition slowly waned over the last half century. American brandy was d0minated by four historic producers: Gallo’s E & J, Constellation’s Paul Masson, Heaven Hill’s Christian Brothers and Korbel. Together these four producers accounted for about 95% of American brandy sales. The rise of craft distillers, however, has shaken up this category, producing a renaissance of new styles and expressions in American brandy production. Brandy is a spirit distilled from fruit. Grapes, apples, pears, berries of all kinds—There is a wide variety of raw materials to choose from. Some brandies are left unaged. They are clear, intense distillates that show the character of fresh fruit. Many others are barrel-aged, where they transform into mellow, golden elixirs over time.

Brandy de Jerez is classified into three categories: Solera, Solera Reserva and Solera Gran Reserva. Solera is typically a mix of 50% holandas and 50% aguardiente and is aged on average for one year. It must have a three-month minimum aging. Solera Reserva is a mix of 75% holandas and 25% aguardiente and is aged for an average of three years. It has a minimum aging of one year. Solera Gran Reserva is 100% holandas and is aged for an average of 10 years, with a minimum aging of three years.Soberano Spanish Brandy is an old recipe that was created in the late 19th century, meaning it’s been around a while with plenty of time to be improved and perfected. It’s made with Airen grapes which are the most planted white wine grape around the world. Lepanto is the place of a famous 16th century naval battle, near Patras in Greece, where the Spanish Armada was defeated by the Ottomans. The Best Armagnac Category was awarded to Chateau de Laubade for its Cask Strength, Vintage 1986 Armagnac. Armagnac is a brandy produced in the same-named region of Gascony. It is only distilled once, and may be the first style of brandy ever produced.