Lepanto Solera Gran Reserva Brandy 750ml

González Byass has been distilling in Jerez de la Frontera since 1835, when founder Manuel María González built the bodega into one of Andalusia's most storied sherry and brandy houses. Lepanto, the estate's flagship brandy, takes its name from the 1571 naval battle near the Greek coast, and its solera dates back to 1896, decades after the family had already begun producing brandy. It remains the only Brandy de Jerez distilled entirely within the town of Jerez itself, and the only one made exclusively in copper pot stills rather than column stills.

Lepanto is distilled solely from Palomino Fino grapes, double-distilled in Charentais pot stills to produce the pure spirit known locally as holandas. The brandy then matures through the traditional solera and criaderas system, spending roughly nine years in American oak casks that previously held Tío Pepe fino sherry before moving into casks seasoned with thirty-year-old Matusalem Oloroso Dulce for a further three years. The finished brandy is bottled at 40 percent alcohol by volume.

The result pours a deep mahogany with golden tones. Aromas of caramel and vanilla lead into toasted almonds and a wine-like piquancy from the fino casks. The palate stays dry yet rounded, with raisin and toasted nut character, closing on a long, persistent finish.