Best in show for Oude Molen at Michelangelo Awards ’17
Praise and medals rained down on Oude Molen Cape Brandy at this years Michelangelo International Wine and Sprits Competition, with the Brandy Trophy going to VS, XO picking up Gold and VSOP Silver.
Increasingly these days, consumers are looking for something a little unique, something exciting and different. And that’s just what VS delivers.
For Oude Molen’s VS “Solera Grand Reserve” Cape Brandy, receiving the Trophy for the best brandy at the 2017 Michelangelo Awards is an exceptional achievement. It has long been a top seller for the brand at wine and spirits shows around the country, so for this to be recognised by such esteemed judges is the ultimate accolade.
A Very Special VS
A key reason for this is that 50% of the 100% Cape Brandy inside Oude Molen VS has been matured at the distillery in a unique Spanish “Solera” system. In this system, Old Spanish Sherry barrels 3 rows high are continually filled each year with 3 year old brandy.
Only 18% of the brandy from the bottom tier is drawn off for bottling each year, the bottom tier is then refilled from the middle, the middle refilled from the top, and top being filled up with new, 3 year aged Cape Brandy.
What this means is that young brandy is in constant mesh with older, more mature brandy as it works its way down the Solera system, dynamically altering it’s maturation journey as it ages. It also stays in this system for longer than it’s 3 year minimum prescribed age for VS.
All of this combines to give VS a refined maturity beyond its young grading, and this must have been what the judges picked up on in awarding it the highest score out of any brandy judged (including some 15 and 20 year old entrants).
Awards for the whole family
It wasn’t just VS that impressed the panel, Oude Molen’s flagship XO blend was awarded a Gold medal on the night, and VSOP highly respectable silver. Both of these variants are also innovative and break the mould with traditional brandy styles. American oak usage in XO gifts a fresh and unique tropical undertone to the brandy, other Brandy Master secrets give VSOP a rich depth of citrus and caramel on the palate.
Says Oude Molen Distillery CEO Andre Simonis “These awards are a great achievement for us as a brand, and prove that the decisions taken to try and make our Oude Molen variants more relevant with modern consumers are clearly paying off”
Simonis adds “Brandy has reached an unfortunate point of stagnation with South African consumers, the traditional styles employed for many years are being surpassed by creative and exciting product offerings from other spirit categories. The only way to undo this is to innovate, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do with our new Cape Brandy range”
Taste the champion
The Oude Molen Cape Brandy range can be tasted at the distillery – book your own guided tour and tasting now via our website
