The second aged apple brandy expression from Copper & Kings references the distillery’s Louisville hometown and Butchertown neighborhood. The Louisville floodwall, finished in 1957, protects the city from flooding of the Ohio River. The floodwall stretches from Butchertown to south of Rubbertown.
Floodwall American apple brandy is a blend of copper pot-distilled apple brandy aged in bourbon barrels and 250-liter Oloroso sherry casks sourced from Spain. Floodwall brandy has a minimum age of four-year-old spirit and is 100 proof.
Floodwall is non-chill filtered with no post-distillation addition of apple flavor or essences, no boisé (oak flavor or infusion), sugar or caramel color.
“We changed this up just a touch, moving to smaller sherry butts to smooth it out a little better, and to get the butterscotch tonality a little more pronounced,” explains head distiller Brandon O’Daniel in a press release.
Copper & Kings Floodwall Apply Brandy has a suggested retail price of $40 per 750-ml. bottle. Aromas include earthy, root-cellar, honeyed apple bouquet, the company reports, plus floral, honeysuckle and butterscotch with hints of whiskey, oak, and vanilla. Flavors include “Scotchy” and a little nutty rancio with sherry butterscotch and red-apple skin. Spicy and “a little feisty.”
Copper & Kings’ fall apple brandy program also includes upgraded packaging for its Un-Aged Apple Brandy expression. This includes a new label and the first sighting of Copper & Kings’ new custom embossed bottle. The labeling reflects the “richness and intensity of the double-distilled spirit,” the company says, which is non-chill filtered and distills apple wine from fresh-pressed Michigan apples.
Copper & Kings is available in 28 markets including: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington D.C.
Suggested Cocktails:
Jack Rose
2 oz. Copper & Kings Floodwall American Apple Brandy
.75 oz. grenadine (see recipe)
.75 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon twist, to garnish
In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with lemon twist.
For grenadine: Heat 2 cups each fresh pomegranate juice and unbleached sugar with 2 oz. pomegranate molasses and 1 tsp. orange blossom water for simple, perfect homemade grenadine.
Corpse Reviver #1
1 oz. Copper & Kings Floodwall American Apple Brandy
1 oz. Copper & Kings American Craft Distilled Brandy
1 oz. sweet vermouth
In a mixing glass with ice, combine brandies and vermouth. Stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
