Crafted by Vecchia Romagna to mark their 200th Anniversary, the new and extremely limited Riserva Anniversario bottling is an exercise in time, rarity, and expertise. And like other luxury Italian goods - the price is commensurate with the occasion. Only 200 handcrafted and individually numbered crystal decanters have been brought into existence, each signed by the Venetian master glassmakers who created them. The triangle bottle shape is inspired by the three phases of brandy production: distillation, aging, and blending; and each bottle is housed in a case featuring hand-stitched Italian leather.

The Riserva Anniversario blend is made up of only 5 casks, each one a very well aged vintage in its own right, with the oldest one set down 67 years earlier in 1952, and a "youthful" 23 year cask bookending the other side of things. Each cask was chosen for its excellence and for the individual characteristics that it contributed to the expertly crafted bottling. A rich, complex and wonderfully structured blend, the result of an art perfected over centuries and a tribute to an extraordinary history.

The nose is intense and complex. It highlights the ethereal and fragrant notes of fruit preserved in alcohol - including cherries, plums, raisins and red fruits - but also of ripe orange peel and dehydrated tropical fruit. Rich in tropical spices such as cinnamon that meld with notes of tobacco and toasted French and Slavonian oak. The initial sweetness on the palate is of apricot, pineapple and mango - which gives way to very intense spicy notes of allspice and cloves, as well as balsamic notes of cardamom and coriander. More complex and structured notes marry well with the roasted and slightly smoky notes of coffee for a long finish. Bottled at 48% abv.

Brandy