Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review.
Anyone well versed in the spirits industry knows you cannot talk about Copper & Kings without talking about brandy. Like many, Copper & Kings started around 2014, moving from Minneapolis to Kentucky to make bourbon… wait… nope, they moved to Kentucky to make brandy. And not just any brandy mind you, but American brandy. Brandy has quietly become a huge spirits industry, increasing sales year after year and amounting to a $15.65 billion industry in the U.S. in 2023. This is due to several factors, including the increasing use of brandy in cocktail recipes by bartenders, but also because American palates have been trained significantly in the past decade to complex domestic spirit flavors.
Joe Heron, founder of Copper & Kings American Brandy Company, wanted to carve a new path for brandy with his company, eschewing the subtle classical flavors seen in Cognac, Armagnac, and Calavados (all traditional French brandies) for something with a bit more bite. “We don’t play by the old rules,” Mr. Heron has said. “We’re looking for the finesse of a brandy with the muscle of a whiskey.”
The predominant method for pursuing this flavor is by using Kentucky whiskey barrels and medium-char new American white oak barrels for aging the brandy, to give it significantly more heft than its French counterparts.
It is then, with great interest, that I approached Copper & King’s newest release: Copper & Kings Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This product is made from a blend of 5, 10, and 15-year old bourbons that have been finished in American Apple Brandy barrels for 12 months. According to the distillery’s notes, “[t]he resulting liquid is a unique opportunity to explore the way that classic bourbon notes mingle and develop with traditional brandy notes to create a wholly distinct taste experience.”
Copper & King is not the first bourbon to use brandy finishes, with a few notable examples springing to mind like the illustrious Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend, Bhakta Bourbon, and the Woodford Reserve Baccarat Edition. However, they may be the first company to use their home-made brandy to do so.
As a huge fan of Armagnac finished bourbons, Armagnac being bolder and more intense than its cousin Cognac, I was tremendously excited to try Copper & King’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. I was initially disappointed in how bourbony (yes, I know it’s not a word. sue me) the dram tasted. However, after spending more time with the spirit, I was able to pick up on some gentle rounding of the edges. Where bourbon can often light your tongue on fire, this expression has subtle dried fruit notes and apple sour/sweetness lying between the bolder bourbon flavors that gives the spirit more depth than your standard fare.
If anything, I would encourage Copper & Kings to drive up the brandy flavors, perhaps using a wet barrel or finish it for even longer.
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Tasting Notes: Copper & Kings Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Vital Stats: A blend of 5, 10, and 15-year-old bourbons; Finished for 12 months in American Apple brandy barrels; 111 proof (55.5 ABV); $65/750ml.
Appearance: Amber with hints of yellow.
Nose: Cinnamon and oak pervade, like a standard bourbon. However, lighter apricot and stone fruit (peach) flavors, and even a little bubblegum mix in.
Palate: Mild oak and pepper move to vanilla and viscous butterscotch. Toward the finish, bright brandy notes of candied apples and cigar box. The finish is nutty with surprising peanut and almond notes.
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