When one thinks of Brandy and France – the mind turns to a single word – cognac. However dear friends it is worth recalling that cognac is a specific region of France and that there is no reason a brandy couldn’t come from elsewhere in the country. The question does hang in the air though – should it?
Despite some of the lower scores to follow – we do say yes. While Harcourt fails to be a great brandy, it’s fairly okay neat and we bet that warmed/mulled it’d be delightful. However as-is, it’s simply an average or subaverage brandy.
What they Say: “Combination of French Uni-Blanc and Chardonnay Grapes Aged in French Oak Barrels.”
Taste: 6.5 – You get some nice sweetness, with a more mellow almost honey like flavor. You can thankfully approve of the XO amount of time this spent in a cask.
Aftertaste: 3.5 – That aftertaste is akin to the aroma, much more raisin-like in flavor. It overall clashes in a way that can be best described as a mahogany hutch containing juice boxes.
Burn/Smooth: 3.5 – This does burn, and while it’s nowhere near as bad as some US brandies – it’s not great.
Aroma: 4.0 – Raisins, not grapes. While there’s a bit of almost banana like in this the overwhelming smell reminds one less of sophisticated vineyards and oak, and more of lunch boxes and trail mix. While nostalgia may be a driving force for many we’ll not let it taint the scores.
Honesty: 8.0 – They don’t have anything other than their name and the product really. And the design and look are stellar – like steal this bottle strip the label and make it a decanter good. Add that all up, and with no real black marks aside from the raisin nostalgia and well done.
Mixability: 2.75
W/ Rocks: 3.0 – If anything that serves to HIGHLIGHT all the bad aspects of the brandy. What crimes could be hidden by a warm neat glass are in full focus here and disdained.
Sidecar: 2.5 – So this is a tale of how much you adjust the ratios. Dead on and it’s too little brandy. Add too much and it goes the other way, get a perfect balance and it’s just chaos. Not a good sidecar by any metric.
Value: 5.0 – That is actually a fairly decent price for this. Sure it’s an abject failure in a cocktail and only mildly good neat, but it’s not like super expensive.
Google Shop Average: $19
Website: https://www.rockwoodimporters.com/ (This was as close a site we could find)
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 4.0
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Metric Score: 33.25/70 |+| Metric Average: 4.75 |+| Reviewer Average: 4.0
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Final Thoughts: While (neat) this is decently enjoyable, it’s not stellar. It’s shit in a cocktail and only okay on neat once you get past some stuff. Don’t get me wrong, with the design and the fact that it’s French but not a cognac – we wanted this to be a winner. It is however not.
