Rochelt, Quince Brandy

[Acquire]

Thirteen years of waiting, for a fruit almost nobody distils.

Fritzens, Tyrol · Distilled 2011 · Hand-pinched green bottle

Why it's here

Quince is hard, sour and stingy: it takes a great weight of fruit to make very little spirit, which is why few distillers attempt it. Rochelt, a small family house in the Austrian Tyrol, is the name other distillers mention when asked who does fruit brandy best. This is the bottle to pour for the guest who believes he has tasted everything.

The object

The quinces are picked late, when the skins have turned gold, then distilled twice and left to rest for years in glass so the alcohol softens and the perfume gathers. This lot was distilled in 2011. It arrives in Rochelt's traditional Tyrolean flask, green glass pinched by hand into a diamond pattern, closed with a silver stopper.

At the table

Pour a thimbleful at room temperature after dinner. At fifty percent it is strong, and a little goes a long way: floral, honeyed and faintly spiced. The empty flask is worth keeping on a shelf.

Origin: Fritzens, Tyrol, Austria
Fruit: Quince
Distilled: 2011, rested 13 years
Strength and size: 50%, 375 ml

The Inheritant may earn a commission on purchases made through links on this page.