Brandy blogging: Korbel versus Ararat

Doug will be leaving Armenia shortly, so I thought it would be appropriate to toast his stay with an Armenian brandy taste test. In the near corner, we have Wisconsin's favorite brandy, Korbel:

And in the far corner, straight from Admiral Isakov Avenue, we have Armenia's Ararat:

How do they compare?

Well, Korbel is a mixin' brandy, not a sippin' brandy. It's what Saint Bernard rescue dogs carry around their necks when they find a snowbound traveler in need of a tailgate party. That being said, it's adequately smooth and mellow to drink straight. Maybe a little too mellow:

Ararat, although it has only a slightly higher proof, packs a much harder initial kick, and has a nice finish. It has a distinct character, with a hint of grape and smoke in the aftermath. Korbel, in comparison, is very much a processed brandy, an inoffensive amber spirit made for supper club cocktails.

It's an American tradition to use brandy as a mixer. There's an old American drink called the Stone Fence, which apparently dates before Independence. A Wisconsin version uses cherry juice, and I happen to have some cherry stomp right here.

I think I'll use the Korbel for this.

Oh, that's nice. Very nice. You could probably make a nice Armenian version with pomegranate juice.

Anyway. Cheers, Doug!

Comments

[Jussi Jalonen]

Five-star Ararat?

Pretentious snob.

Cheers,

J. J.

[Carlos]

A *penny-pinching* pretentious snob. They keep the Ararat in the bargain section, next to the brandies band teachers commit suicide with.

[lala]

I vote for the Armenian one with the prettier bottle! remember when the rusty nail was my favorite cocktail? ahahaha! we are so young when we waste youth!

this also reminds me (besides of rusty nails) of this true story about wisconsin-on-travel: man comes to the louche city to the south to hang out with his sultriest native. he orders an old-fashioned, he says to the bartender, "dewar's, water back, and an old-fashioned." when it comes, he takes a gulp -- because a gulp is what he needs because she is on her worst, most prove-it-to-me behavior, you of course know the sort of behavior, yes. -- & makes a horrible face, just a horrible! terrible! face!

there is gasping and wheezing and exclaming while she takes a tiny sip and sadly reminds him, "you're not in wisconsin, so ... this is whiskey, guy." ahahaha. xx

[The New York City Math Teacher]

I thought a rusty nail was drambuie and whiskey?

In any case, I vote for this stuff in my freezer I got from my old barber in exchange for my homemade porter. Smells like cologne...

(barrel-aged? hee.)

[lala]

why it is, yes, drambuie and scotch. very good, you. the connection between big bottles of brandy and the era of rusty nails is not really clear to you, but one can't really expect me to make causality & connections clear for the entire intarwebs when I was responding to something my friend wrote with something he knows all about, hm? too many words already I use!! have a swell day!