Louis Roque La Vieille Prune Reserve Plum Brandy

This Plum brandy is made by Distillerie Louis Roque in Souillac, Quercy, in the southwest of France near the Gascony region. It is distilled from three varieties of plums: Ente (a red plum), Mirabelle (yellow plum most famous in the Lorraine) and Reine-Claude (green plum grown all over France). After being double distilled on a bain-marie style copper pot still, it is aged 4–5 years in 400-liter oak casks. The reduction to 42% abv is done gradually through the aging process, and no sugar is added.

Boisterous fruit and esters burst off the nose with vibrant oxidation and notes of rich, nutty marzipan from the plum pits. The palate is deep and oaky, full of raisins, Chinese 5 Spice, licorice root, and of course, prunes.