Germain Robin Old Havana Alambic Brandy (Old Release)

Germain Robin Old Havana Alambic Brandy / Old Release

"Rich deep fruit, nicely oaked, very very mellow. In 1995, during the cigar craze, we bottled a blend called “For the Lover of Fine Cigars”. When the craze died down, we changed the label to Old Havana, then (2001) decided to use the components for XO production. In 2009, we used the 5 surviving barrels to start a solera. “One of the world’s great spirits”(Mens’ Journal) Armagnac lovers prefer it to the XO. Unfiltered."

The Germain-Robin story dates back to 1981 when Ansley Coale, a retired professor from UC Berkeley, picked up a hitchhiking Frenchman, Hubert Germain-Robin, along a Northern California highway. This serendipitous meeting has produced one of the world's finest and most underappreciated spirits categories--premium California brandy. Hubert's family had been producing Cognac since the 1700s, and the two concocted a plan to produce brandy from California's world class wines, utilizing grape varietals no one had ever distilled before. They procured an old still from a closed Cognac distillery and set up shop on Coale's Ukiah, CA ranch.

Their unique distillates, particularly Pinot Noir, have set the standard for California brandy and won worldwide accolades as some of the finest brandy available anywhere, Cognac included. In 2017, the brand and its decades of brandy stocks dating back to 1983 were sold to Gallo. The powerful combination of Hubert (still working on the project with Gallo) and Gallo's unique expertise and vast resources have provided a big step forward in bringing CA brandy to the forefront of the world's best spirits.

With a minimum age statement of 7 years, but the bulk of the blend being 20 years old, the current flagship California Alembic Brandy all comes from before the Gallo acquisition. Key blend legs in the current bottling include Colombard from 1997-2001, Viognier from 2001-2007, and Riesling from 1998.

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