Louisville-based Copper & Kings American Brandy Co. has launching a limited release gin: Alley Cat.
Double distilled in a Vendome copper pot still, Alley Cat is apple-brandy based with classic gin botanicals. And it is aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels for 22 months.
Alley Cat is non-chill filtered and untouched by any post-distillation infusion of flavor or color.
This is a follow up on to the 2015 Serbian Juniper barrel-aged gin from Copper & Kings, called Stray Cat.
Only 750 bottles (375mL each) will be produced and sold at the distillery store, with a tiny selection of superlative bars and liquor stores. The original fine art is illustrated by Louisville artist Douglas Miller.
“We like to do different things with our gin; no chill-filtration, an unusual apple-brandy base, just a double-distillation, no compounding and no GNS re-distillation,” said Copper & Kings founder Joe Heron, in a press release. “We like slightly oily, viscous barrel aged expressions, the “Old Tom” style profile, and Douglas Miller sets the tone with his beautiful illustrations, so we are going to keep picking from the same litter.”
The aroma is piney, juniper and citrus-forward, the company reports, and also earthy and a little woodsy, with a chartreuse note. The taste is not sweet, the company says, with “surprisingly little overt Bourbon notes like vanilla with faint fennel and spicy cinnamon on the back end, just a hint of orange blossom.”
Alley Cat is 98 proof and retails for a suggested price of $40 per 375-ml. bottle.
