Following on from
last week’s post in which we looked at one of the spirits I brought back from
my Berlinsterdam adventure, this weekwe’re looking at another – Asbach
Urbrand brandy (40 ABVs). This was the first bottle I decided to open, as all
the others appealed to opening at parties or in the presence of particular
friends.
I’ve been asking for
some time whether it is possible to get great brandy at a decent price (like it
is with whisky), though in all fairness I haven’t been trying that hard. I
certainly haven’t been able to answer in the affirmative yet, but while I
always keep a bottle of brandy in stock, it isn’t a spirit I delve into all
that often. Neverthelss, with this German brandy, it looks like I’d done it.
Seriously; this is going straight to number 1. I don’t normally like to blow my
load like that straight away, but I’m so thrilled and it’s so rare to find such
a brandy that I just can’t wait.
The Asbach Urbrand
has a hint of new trainers on the nose (and in no way is that a bad thing – I
love the smell of new trainers), a body like silk and a complexity of flavour I
just haven’t found in brandy before. To top things off, there’s a pleasant
alcohol bite, just to let you know you’re drinking the good stuff. Not a note
out of place, from the fruit to the candy to the spice tones; just superb.
My only gripe is
that I had to use a knife in order to get the cap off; it wasn’t anchored so it
just kept turning round and round instead of unscrewing. I couldn’t get a
decent grip on the seal with my sausage fingers, so in the end I had to slice through
the joins and now the cap won’t seal properly. Instead it does that annoying
thing where it goes from almost but not
quite tight to completely unscrewed
and back again ad infinitum when you try to seal it until you have to make a
decision as to where you think might be
sufficient to keep the goodness fresh. On top of that, it was a plastic bottle,
which is good for not adding weight to your baggage, but having bought it at
the airport, that wasn’t really a consideration anyway.
Putting that aside,
at 9 euros for half a litre, this is top notch. I really wasn’t expecting much,
and had almost decided not to buy anything in Duty Free that day, but with my
Carlos I almost gone and brandy specifically being something I’d been looking
for, I had to, and I’m glad I did. Keep an eye out for this as you’re passing
though the German airports; it’s worth a punt.
Next week (assuming
I can finish writing it to my satisfaction), I’ll be presenting part 3 of this
series and looking at German korn
with Berliner Brandstifter. See you
back here for that.
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