Brandy Soto Solera 38%, José de Soto

Appearance

Fairly deep amber to chestnut with coppery bronze highlights.

Nose

Forthright and quite full, a mix of light spirit notes and those of  a full Oloroso along with hints of old oak. There are also hints of vanilla and caramel and traces of old English marmalade. There is reasonable complexity and quality for a basic solera brandy.

Palate

Full and quite rich and hearty with a fair intensity of flavour including caramel, garrapiñadas, walnut and a very faint trace of anise along with the almost inevitable oak and Sherry notes. It has a fair bit of character for what it is and is not excessively sweetened or tannic and has good length.

Comments

This brandy was originally produced by the fine old firm of  José de Soto, famous for its Ponche, but in 1989 it was bought out by Nueva Rumasa and gradually merged with Garvey and Zoilo Ruiz Mateos at the purpose-built the Complejo Bodeguero Bellavista. Towards the end of 2016 the remains of the group (100,000 butts had been reduced to 10,000) was bought from the receivers by Asian Alcohol Corporation who seem to be doing very little with it, and have paid off most of the staff. The Complejo Bodeguero Bellavista, would seem to have even less stock these days. 

Price

20 euros per litre, Licores Corredera