Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

The Best American Brandy of 2018

Sam Slaughter
By
New Deal Distillery Pear Brandy
Dan Baker/The Manual

The Manual Spirit Awards recognize the best damn booze in America. Across nine categories — Bourbon, Rye, Single Malt Whiskey, Unaged Rum, Aged Rum, Vodka, Flavored Vodka, Gin, and Brandy — we blind-tasted multiple products from around the country to determine our champions. Each of the winning bottles was judged on appearance, aroma, palate, finish, and how well the product represented the category as a whole. Our focus on smaller craft distillers in the U.S. allowed us to highlight spirits that, we hoped, our readers have not tried yet.

Best Brandy

New Deal Pear Brandy

Brandy is a spirit made from the fermented juice, mash, or wine of a fruit that is at least 80 proof upon bottling.  For a brandy to be considered a fruit brandy, it must be made from fermented juice or mash only, allowing for an addition of 20 percent by weight of fruit pomace or wine. Although many different fruits can be used, apple, grape, and pear are among the most popular brandies produced in the country.

New Deal Distillery Pear Brandy
Dan Baker/The Manual

New Deal Pear Brandy, produced by New Deal Distillery in Portland, Oregon, is made with 100-percent estate-grown Hood River Bartlett pears from the Pereday Orchard in the Columbia River Gorge of the Pacific Northwest.  From the first sniff to the last sip, this brandy is like walking through a pear orchard and taking a bite of the juiciest, freshest pear you could ever imagine. Not only do you get the sweetness of the fresh pear, but you also get the earthy beauty of the skin and the orchard around you.

Recommended Videos

The vibrant nature of this spirit helped it win out over the others in the category. It is 40 percent alcohol by volume and available in 10 states, the Washington D.C. area, Singapore, Shanghai, and online.

Related

Tasting Notes

  • Appearance: New Deal Pear Brandy has the slightest tint of ripe Bartlett pear flesh.
  • Nose: Smelling this brandy is akin to standing in a pear orchard. Fresh, ripe pear notes — the ripest pears you can imagine — mingle with an earthy, almost mineral-y core.
  • Palate: While overwhelmingly pear-flavored, the brandy exhibits other notes as well. Hints of oak and dried hay present themselves, but to a lesser extent. On the end, there are vegetal notes which make it seem like you’re actually chewing on a pear.
  • Finish: A medium finish, the fresh, sweet fruit flavors give way to some of the earthy, hay-like notes from the palate.

About the Distillery

Founded in 2004, New Deal Distillery’s motto is: “Made right. Made right here.” Founder Tom Burkleaux and then-co-founder Matthew VanWinkle set out with a simple goal: selling one bottle to a complete stranger in a liquor store. New Deal Distillery was the second licensed distillery in Portland (after Clear Creek Distillery) and produces vodkas, flavored vodkas, gins, liqueurs, and a whiskey.

How to Enjoy it In a Cocktail

Pear Brandy Sidecar

While many brandy drinks feature grape-based brandies, we wanted to find a cocktail that could utilize a base recipe but be altered to really highlight the chosen spirit. When we settled on a pear brandy as our Spirit Awards winner, we knew that the citrus of a Sidecar would be perfect. The addition of mint helps to highlight the earthiness of New Deal Pear Brandy.

Glass: Coupe glass
Tools: Shaker, strainer

  • 2 oz New Deal Pear Brandy
  • .75 oz triple sec
  • .75 oz lemon juice
  • Mint leaf

Method: Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a mint leaf.

Best Brandy Runners-Up

Best Flavored Vodka Runners-Up

Clear Creek Apple Brandy Charbay Brandy No. 89
Clear Creek Distillery Charbay Distillery
Portland, Oregon Ukiah, California
Clear Creek Apple Brandy
Founded in Portland, Oregon, Clear Creek Distillery produces a wide range of brandies. The base Apple Brandy is aged for eight years in Limousin oak, giving it plenty of apple and oak flavors. One of the oldest craft distilleries in the country, California’s Charbay boasts a brandy distilled in the winter of 1989 and aged for 24 years in Limousin oak. Layer upon layer open up over time.

Credits

Article by Sam Slaughter

Copy editing by Nicole Raney

Photography by Dan Baker

Video by Dan Baker and Riley Young

Art direction and page layout by Genevieve Poblano

Creative team: Will Hawkins, Hanif Jackson, and Chris DeGraw

Shot on location at Grand Army Tavern in Portland, Oregon

Editors' Recommendations

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
We know the most popular cocktails — Try these underrated drinks instead
Try some alternatives to the most popular cocktails
Cocktails

Recently, we wrote an article about the 10 most popular cocktails in the US. Not surprisingly, it was littered with classic drinks like the Mojito, Margarita, Old Fashioned, and Moscow Mule. But drinking cocktails isn’t a popularity contest. Just because many people seem to enjoy Espresso Martinis doesn’t mean you have to stop drinking your classic Dirty Martini.

But, if you take a moment to peruse the list of the 10 most popular drinks, you might see a few you like and others you aren’t sure about. That’s okay. Lucky for you, we’re here to help. That’s why today we’re all about the underdogs.

Read more
How to start your own home bar: the tools and mixers
the best home bar glassware version 1612854960 for your 2021

So you're building up your home bar. You've got the essential spirits in. You've added a selection of liqueurs and bitters to combine them with. Now, it's time to add the finishing touches. From mixers to tools to glasswear, we're rounding up everything else you'll need to turn a corner of your kitchen into a great home bar.
Speaking of the kitchen – this is, in my experience, the absolute best place for a home bar. While I love a good bar cart for a living room (or even an office, if you have that kind of job!) these are really more decorative than a practical place to mix drinks. The problem with using bar carts for serious cocktail making is twofold: One, the surfaces are usually too low, at below hip height, so you'll be bending over uncomfortably while you try to make your drinks. That's not chic, and it's hard on your back too. Instead you want something that's counter level, hence opting for the kitchen. The second issue is access to ice and a sink. Mixing serious cocktails requires a large amount of ice and frequent washing of glasses and tools. Sure, you can get an attractive ice bucket for your bar cart, and that certainly makes a fun decorative accessory. But you'll still be running back and forth to the kitchen to use the sink all the time anyway.
If you love the style of a bar cart, I certainly wouldn't want to stop you having one. They are great fun, and stylish to boot. I have a bar cart myself in my living room, which I love and use for very simple mixed drinks like negronis (though even then, you still have to go and fetch ice every time you want a drink). It's a great place for occasional special bottles, particularly beautiful glasswear, cocktail books, and other decorative accessories.
But for serious cocktail making, you want an area of clear counter space, near to a sink and to a freezer full of ice, and with easy access to all your bottles and tools. I find a small kitchen island perfect for this purpose, tucked into a corner of the kitchen near the appliances. Store bottles and equipment on the lower shelves of the island or on wall-mounted shelves to save space, and make sure you have a lamp or decent overhead lighting so you can see what you're doing while you mix. You'll want a small chopping board as well for slicing citrus and other fruit, and a small, sharp knife that you can borrow from your kitchen equipment.
Then it's time to turn your attention to home bar tools.

Essential home bar tools

Read more
Big Green Egg brings back a fan-favorite item for a limited time
However spend your evenings outdoors, the Big Green Egg Chiminea is there to help keep things warm
The Big Green Egg Chiminea.

Love good times by the fire on a chilly night? Want to enjoy a few drinks in a toasty spot after a long day at work? Of course, we all do. But throwing some logs in a pit in the ground doesn't quite do it. If you want a cozy evening, Big Green Egg brings the wow with the release of a special Chiminea to celebrate 50 years in business, and it will take your gathering around the fire to a whole new level.
The Big Green Egg update

Big Green Egg has been the go-to for outdoor grillers and smokers looking for an outdoor cooker for decades. But if you want to hang out in the fresh air without cooking, the Chiminea is what you need. Freestanding fireplaces aren't new, and Big Green Egg isn't trying to reinvent them. The vintage version from 1999 is the starting point, with upgrades worthy of a 50th anniversary.
What's cracking with this egg
If it's not broken, don't fix it, right? But even the littlest changes will make something feel fresh. For those who aren't the best at starting a fire and keeping it going, the Chiminea comes with Lava Rocks to keep the flames roaring more evenly and for longer. Made from NASA-grade ceramic, the quality isn't something to worry about, either. And, yes, it's still in that gorgeous, signature deep green color. 

Read more