Wednesday, 29 March 2017

Brandy Magno Solera Reserva 36%, Osborne

Appearance
Chestnut to amber with coppery highlights.
Nose
Spicy American oak and Oloroso dominate the nose with dried fruit and a hint of vanilla following through. There are trace notes of brown sugar, mineralsfrom the aguardiente and orange peel.
Palate
There is a trace of sweetness there which is the Osborne style, then it opens out into gentle Oloroso flavours and a kind of orangey caramelly fruitness. It is not old enough to have much tannin so any sweetness is more obvious, but it has a dry finish with decent length.
Comments
Launched in 1955, Magno was the next brandy up the scale from Veterano which was Spain's biggest selling brandy at the time and whose name used to adorn the famous huge bull-shaped billboards dotted around the country. Veterano used to be a straight solera brandy but unfortunately they changed it to a "bebida espirituosa" to keep the price low, so it is no longer technically brandy. In fact Osborne no longer market a solera brandy, just solera reserva and upwards. Anyway, this is a blend of pot still holandas and column still aguardientes distilled from Airen grapes at the firm's distillery in Tomelloso. It is aged in solera in butts which previously held Oloroso in El Puerto for over a year. The firm also produce a solera gran reserva brandy called Alma de Magno.
Price
10.25 euros widely available


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