Based in 2017 by Ilio Mavlyanov, Sauvage Distillery is positioned within the quiet hills of Charlotteville, New York — proper within the coronary heart of apple nation. Upstate New York is world-renowned for its apples, because of a cool local weather, fertile soils, and a protracted rising season that make it an orchard paradise. Sauvage embraces this regional bounty, distilling its spirits completely from apples grown in Schoharie County.
The distillery’s journey started with an apple-based vodka, but it surely just lately expanded its repertoire with a brand new launch: Upstate Brandy Maple Particular Batch. This expression is a mix of aged apple brandy, apple-based impartial spirit, and a contact of maple syrup sourced from Thompson’s Sugar Shack in Jefferson, NY. The end result? A subtly candy brandy liqueur that captures the essence of autumn in each glass.
Sauvage ferments a medley of native apple varieties — Spy Gold, Cortland, Kingston Black, and Liberty — utilizing champagne yeast in closed-top tanks over a 4- to 6-week course of. The mash is then distilled in a custom-built pot nonetheless from Bridgetown Brew Programs (Portland, Oregon), outfitted with 16- and 18-inch plates for precision distillation. The apple spirit comes off the nonetheless at 160 proof and enters the barrel at 130 proof, the place it rests for no less than two years in a mixture of new American oak and ex-bourbon casks.
After growing old, the apple brandy is mixed with an undisclosed quantity of impartial spirit and maple syrup. Whereas the precise ratios stay a intently guarded secret, the addition of maple syrup classifies this spirit as a flavored brandy — or extra exactly, a brandy liqueur. Not like whiskey, which have to be bottled at 80 proof or larger, brandy liqueurs could be extra delicate in power; Upstate Brandy Maple Particular Batch is bottled at a mellow 70 proof, permitting its orchard roots and maple end to shine.
Sauvage Distillery is probably not a family title — but — however is that this small producer value in search of out? Let’s take a chew of this New York apple and hope we don’t discover half a worm.
Upstate Brandy Maple Particular Batch Evaluation
The nostril opens with successful of juicy apple, shortly joined by delicate tobacco — an surprising however welcome pairing. It’s value noting that the maple syrup doesn’t dominate the aroma as one would possibly assume. As an alternative, clove and lightweight brown sugar spherical issues out, providing a balanced and surprisingly restrained profile. If nosed blind, the presence of maple syrup may not be instantly apparent. The inclusion of maple syrup provides a weight that gives the look of a fuller-bodied spirit than anticipated from a flavored brandy with impartial spirit.
On the palate, apple leads once more, adopted by only a hint of maple syrup. That contact is shortly overtaken by flavors of butterscotch arduous sweet and roasted pumpkin seeds. The feel is dense, with a weighty mouthfeel, but it surely by no means crosses into cloying territory. It avoids the pitfall of tasting like syrup was merely blended with brandy. The end begins with butterscotch pudding, transitioning to browned butter and shortbread cookie. The dessert-like notes by no means really feel pressured.
Contemplating the usage of each maple syrup and impartial spirit, Upstate Brandy Maple Particular Batch is way extra gratifying than its description would possibly recommend. Though technically a brandy liqueur, it drinks extra like a standard apple brandy. It might make a powerful exhibiting in a Jack Rose, but additionally looks like a pure match for a fall-inspired apple toddy. That mentioned, it stands effectively by itself, neat.
No half-worms right here—only a surprisingly well-executed tackle New York apples in liquid type.
70 proof.
B+ / $34
Upstate Brandy Maple Particular Batch
USD34
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