Tamworth Garden XO Apple Brandy

The luxurious Tamworth Garden XO Apple Brandy is the culmination of ten years of patience and craftsmanship, and its debut is timed with our distillery’s ten-year anniversary.

Its younger counterpart, the 4-year VSOP Apple Brandy, was hailed by Esquire for ‘pushing American craft brandy to a higher level,’ and awarded a 90-point rating on Wine Enthusiast. The XO release is the newest expression of the same highly-praised recipe. Just like the VSOP, the effort behind the XO starts with our choice of apples from the region: heirloom Cortland apples grown in Concord, NH at Carter Hill Apple Orchard, one of the oldest active orchards in the United States. Cortland apples are a quintessential New England eating and cooking variety with deep red skin, tender, snow white flesh, and a sweet-tart balance that makes a very pleasing cider on its own. This juice was pressed later in the season after allowing the apples’ aroma to deepen well into the fall. The fermented cider from these delicious apples is then distilled twice in a traditional alembic still, in the style of French Calvados with abundant lees to support extended aging and thick palatability before being briefly rested in new American oak. The distillate is then transferred to a French oak cask, which formerly held California Zinfandel, for the duration of its life in our bonded barrelhouse. As one of our last brandy distillations of 2015, its depth of character is a true culmination of the season’s harvest.

This distillation and aging process adheres to the standards of The Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 and XO brandies (‘Extra Old’ – as established by the Bureau National Interprofessional du Cognac in 1983). The result is an apple brandy produced by one distillery, in one season, aged at least ten years and bottled at 100 proof: unadulterated, with no artificial colors, other spirits, or younger brandies mixed in.

In the glass, Tamworth Garden XO shimmers with a deep amber hue, leaving an impression of spiced apple custard and orange marmalade on the palate. Hints of citrus zest and baking spice punctuate whiskey-like notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and clove. Take a sip and appreciate the essence of the humble apple, and its journey from the orchard to your glass.