Carlos I Brandy

Spanish brandy from the sherry triangle

Carlos I brandy comes from Bodegas Osborne, one of Spain's great sherry and brandy houses, based in El Puerto de Santa María in the heart of the Jerez sherry triangle. The brandy is distilled from wine in copper pot stills and alquitaras, with only the finest heart of the distillate kept back for ageing. That spirit then rests in American oak casks that previously held Osborne's Oloroso and Amontillado sherries, worked through a solera system of criaderas so that younger spirit is gradually enriched by older. Some bottlings in the range carry brandies aged up to twenty years, which explains the depth you get even before any extra cask finishing.

A range built on sherry casks

Within the collection you'll find expressions finished in Pedro Ximénez butts as well as the standard Oloroso and Amontillado soleras, giving a spread from dry and nutty through to properly sticky and raisined. It's rich, warming stuff, and a classic after-dinner pour, good neat or stirred into a brandy coffee, Spanish-style.