Chancellor's Hardscrabble Applejack (40.0%): And here is the third and last post about the odd bottles we brought back from our Upstate New York distilleries tour last month. It's an applejack distilled by
Hudson Valley Distillers and named after Chancellor Robert Livingston who was one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence and an entrepreneur. He once owned the land on which Hudson Valley Distillery is located now. The brandy in the bottle is distilled from apples sourced from Hudson Valley area only. Many thanks to the founders of
Hudson Valley Distillers Chris Moyer and Tom Yozzo for opening the distillery on a snowy and cold Holiday morning just to show us around and to give a full tasting of their entire line-up... Much appreciated...
Color: Medium amber with a healthy dose of cloudiness which actually settles when you leave the bottle untouched a few days.
Nose: Sour and flat Normandian style apple cider nose in your face..! Pretty powerful. After letting the glass to air a good minute or two it gets a little sweeter: Honeycrisp apples, dill pickles and young Calvados. It is perfumy and floral with hyacinth and jonquil aromas. Irish Spring soap bars, coriander leaves and clay dust.
Palate: Although we had almost none on the nose toasted oak notes cover the palate entirely right away... Followed by sweet cider, apple puree and compote notes. Some hard caramel candies, sour gummy worms and celery stalks. Still has that soapiness... More greens: Asparagus, dandelion leaves and bitter greens.
Finish: Medium long with oak tannins, pickle brine and green olives. Apple butter...
Overall: Well, this was such a joyful ride... Odd, interesting and unusual but definitely fun. I am so glad that I didn't pick a bottle of their rye or gin (which were also very good...) to bring back but this applejack. I always had a big soft spot for mouth pursing sour European ciders. This bottle only suggest the style but enough to make it interesting. It is incredibly young to tell the truth but I am glad that it didn't spend more time in the barrel actually. The wood influence is just right, the spirit is still vibrant. For my two cents it is hefty enough for a hot toddy in winter months but still refreshing to use it in summer cocktails. Good job guys... I wonder if they have any plans to put them in bigger barrels just to be able to age them a little longer. That would be something to look forward to...
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| Hudson Valley Distillers, Clermont NY |
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| line-up |
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| casks aging |
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