Etter Kirsch Brandy

This is a eau de vie is made from Swiss cherries in small copper pot stills. Like some of the other excellent eau de vies reviewed on this website the Etters do not use bulk ethanol and chemical flavors like some (O.K. most ) of their competitors to make some bastardized vodka kool-aid and try to pass it of as eau de vie. It uses a much more true (but expensive) process. They use a type of cherry that is increasingly rare – the black “Mountain Cherry” which is smaller and sweeter than most but grows on a tall cherry tree (most trees have been bred down for easier harvesting)then distilled and only the very center cut of the distillation is aged in small glass demijohns (50L) to mellow for 3 years before bottling. Over 16 pounds of fruit are used per bottle.