On Friday, the creators of cult favorite Big O Ginger Liqueur, Bill Foster and Kathy Kuper, are releasing another spirit: Habondia Peach Brandy. One catch—because fewer than 200 bottles were produced, the supply is limited. Approximately 125 bottles will be available at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton on Friday from 4–7 p.m. Kuper expects a sell-out.
Named after the Celtic goddess of the harvest, Habondia is rich and mildly tannic with notes of peach mingled with dark vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and tobacco. Foster and Kuper’s son Chris Foster teamed up with Crown Valley Distillery’s master distiller Scott Eckl to produce a pure fruit brandy made with fresh and organic Missouri peaches grown on-site and hand-pitted at the distillery. The result was 40 gallons of distilled spirit. The color is derived naturally from three years in oak, over 80 percent of it in medium toasted, Missouri white oak barrels.
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Habondia is not peach-flavored brandy, but rather a brandy that could be compared against a fine Cognac or Armagnac, and consume it the same way, neat, in a snifter or Glencairn. The nose is fantastic and the mouthfeel is wonderfully viscous, as Habondia is bottled at 90 proof (non chill filtered.) Habondia succeeds at providing a brandy for the peach lover, which is sweet, but not cloying. A great accompaniment to dessert—or as dessert by itself. It conjures a visit to the French countryside and a few dusty bottles of brandy produced for family consumption from local peaches in the early 20th century.
The hand-labeled bottles bear an image of Habondia reminiscent of Alphonse Mucha, the noted Czech Art Nouveau painter. It’s sold in imprinted wooden boxes at a suggested retail price of $75.
If you can’t score a bottle of Habondia, try again next year as releases are already planned for the next three years.
