Shadowplay – Gran Duque d’Alba
How to call a crossover between a Harvard Cocktail and the Black Manhattan? Well, I chose a song with more than a touch of darkness in it as a title. On top of that, I am presenting a classic brandy, probably everybody has heard of.
At least here in Germany there are two ubiquitous brandies. One of them is the Gran Duque d’ Alba from Williams & Humbert. They use white wines from the Palomino and Airen grapes which are distilled to an ABV of 65 %. Afterwards, the brandy ages in casks made from American oak seasoned with Dry Sack 15-years Oloroso sherry. The brandy is produced according to the ‘Solera’ method and the ageing takes around ten to twelve years. In the end, the Solera Gran Reserva is bottled at 40 %.
Sweet raisins
Obviously, you can taste a lot of typical Spanish brandy notes. They reminded me of a lot of dried raisins. I also got a whiff of PX sherry. The Gran Duque d’ Alba stays on the rather sweet side of the taste with caramel and candied fruit flavours.
Black Manhattan inspired
Similar to my drink with the Spiritus Rex Pinot Meunier, I decided to use the Harvard cocktail as a base. Yet, I also threw in an Amaro combo and some bitters just to spice things up. Instead of just plain sweet vermouth, I went with Punt e Mes. Apart from that, is there a better way to garnish a Brandy cocktail than two brandied cherries?
1,5 cl Punt e Mes
1,5 cl Averna Don Salvatore
1,5 cl Ramazotti
2 Dashes Aromatic Bitters Mix*
2 Dashes Scrappy’s Seville Orange Bitters
1,5 cl Soda Water
Stir – strain – chilled Cocktail glass;
Garnish: Two Brandied Cherries; Song: Joy Division – Shadowplay;
**Mix 50 % Angostura Bitters and 50 % The Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters – bottle in clean dripper bottle.
The drink starts with some Brandy Manhattan flavours. Yet, the Amari work their way to the front and add some bitter and herbal notes. Ramazotti and Averna go extremly well together here. On top of that, you can find a touch of orange flavours as well as some salinity. The drink was more on the sweet side, but also quite complex. All in all, the drink was quite tasty and not only something for fans of bitter Amari.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The brandy was provided by Gran Duque d’ Alba.
