Drinking The World

JOE CORLEY is the head distiller at Germain-Robin Distillery.

[b]JMF: What are your thoughts on artisanal fruit brandy and spirits made in North America?

JC:[/b] I really just know the four I mention on question 3 below... but I have had a chance to try many fine spirits being made across the country and I think most should be given "A" for effort and there are a lot of contenders for very good to great quality spirits, but there are a lot of ho-hum ones as well. One cannot make high quality spirits without the time element for brandies and whiskies. Ok, we were all astonished (at the whiskey tasting at the 2008 ADI Conference) by the "Scotch" quality from Amrut in India for their 3 year old, that is an unusual circumstance of environmental and other factors.

Follow up:

I wonder if all of the spirit was just 3 years of age (laws for percentages?) But that is not speaking about the USA producers, the people making great (other than grape) fruit eau-de-vies or brandies use real fruit macerations and top quality ingredients-it shows in the end product. Take for instance St. George Spirits vodkas-they have real fruit, real additives (such as the Kaffir lime leaves) that gives them an intensity and character that only honest, do-the-work, spare no expense, slow, small-batch operation affords.

JMF: How well are they selling?

JC: St George and Clear Creek seem to be doing alright, although I don't have their sales figures....I assume everyone is down during these hard times, even though people gotta drink...just not the top stuff. It'll come back as we get back a steady economy and people can drink higher-end products.

JMF: What do you think are the best ones available?

JC: St. George Spirits, Clear Creek Distillery, Germain-Robin Distillery, Domaine Charbay.

JMF: How much does the general public know about them?

JC: Clear spirits seem to be what the vast majority are remembering right now, perhaps fresh in mind- we at Germain-Robin are still finding a lot of folks who have not heard of us after 25 years. We have some of the world's best brandies, not just by our word but by critics and writers galore- The Robb Report gave our XO the "Best Liquor In The World" two years running. Still, we slowly sell about 2500 cases/year to people who know what quality is and enjoy artisanal products done right. That should be a bumper sticker "Artisanal=Done Right"

JMF: Who are the top experts on them?

JC: Paul Pacult's The Spirit Journal, The Malt Advocate come to mind... also, lots of knowledgeable blog sites with writers like yourself doing great reporting (The Spirit World for instance). Talking and reviewing what's out there as honestly as they can.