Copper & Kings

Copper & Kings American Brandy Company is a specialist American brandy and absinthe distillery located in historic Butchertown, Louisville, Kentucky. The company was founded by beverage entrepreneurs Joe and Lesley Heron in 2014. The Herons originally founded Nutrisoda which was sold to PepsiAmericas in 2006, and the Crispin Hard Cider Company, sold to MillerCoors in 2012.

The distillery

The brandy distillery has four separate elements; the basement maturation cellar, the first floor distillery/production area, a second floor art gallery and office space and a third floor tasting room and event space with views to the West of downtown Louisville.

The distillery building itself is fronted by an expansive courtyard for community events as well as repurposed shipping containers containing the Gift Shop and tour/event amenities.

The front shipping containers are surrounded by a 4,300 sqf dedicated butterfly garden with select flora and habitat to attract and sustain Monarch butterflies and other pollinators. The garden is certified by MonarchWatch.org as a registered Monarch Waystation.

The distillery is regarded as much a "community asset" as it is a tourist attraction. The company used over 40 local and regional vendors in the construction of the facility, and is regularly used to support local charities and community arts.

Distillation

The company focuses exclusively on the copper pot-distillation of American brandy and absinthe. Three Vendome Copper & Brassworks stills are used in the distillation process and go by the names of Sarah (50 gal.), Magdalena (750 gal.) and Isis (1000 gal.)—all female protagonists in Bob Dylan songs (Sarah, Romance in Durango and Isis). The company follows an alembic double-distillation batch process of grape wine using the grape varietals of Muscat D'Alexandrie, (French) Colombard and Chenin Blanc. The company distills an annual Kentucky vintage brandy using the Vidal Blanc grape varietal.

Apple brandy is also distilled, with raw apple juice sourced in Michigan, then fermented in Kentucky. All wines are distilled unfiltered and unsulfited. Finished products are non-chill filtered, and contain no boisé (oak flavors or infusion), sugar or caramel color as a standard of quality.

Absinthe

The distillery makes 4 different styles of absinthe using a brandy base. The absinthe botanicals (Grande Wormwood, Fennel, Anis, Licorice root and Hyssop together with other select botanicals) are macerated in the brandy low wine for 18 hours pre-distillation and then go through a second final distillation. The distillery allows for no post-distillation infusion of flavor or color to the final spirit. The absinthe is non-chill filtered.

Absinthe Blanche uses a Muscat brandy base. The distillery also produces 3 Vapor Distilled Absinthes – Lavender, Citrus and Fresh Cut Ginger where the additional flavor notes are achieved using Vapor Distillation of botanicals in a fashion similar to that of Gin distillation. The Vapor Distilled Absinthes use a (French) Colombard brandy base.

Maturation

Grape brandy is matured in once used Kentucky Bourbon barrels with +/-10% New American Oak. Apple Brandy is matured in once used Kentucky Bourbon barrels with +/-10% Spanish Sherry casks and butts.

The cellar also contains a variety of different brandies aging in used Tequila barrels, Kentucky Hogsheads, Serbian Juniper barrels and used Cognac barrels. The distillery is also maturing brandy in oak barrels that were previously used to age craft beer – the partner breweries include Three Floyds (Indiana), Against The Grain (Kentucky), Sierra Nevada (California) and Oskar Blues (North Carolina).

The maturation process also includes "sonic aging" where music is played to the barrels, and 5 large sub-woofer speakers vibrate the distillate inside the barrel in a fashion so as to increase spirit contact with wood inside the barrels thus enhancing maturation.

Sustainability

As an agricultural product the company is focused on environmental protection including the aforementioned Monarch butterfly garden, the use of solar energy, the repurposing of shipping containers, the promotion of cycling in Louisville, and the salvaging of wood from the distillery construction for furniture used in the building.

Varieties

• Copper & Kings American Brandy. 90 Proof/ 45% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Immature Brandy. 90 Proof/ 45% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Butchertown Brandy. 124 Proof/ 45% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Aged American Apple Brandy. 100 Proof/ 50% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Unaged Apple Brandy. 90 Proof/ 62% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Blanche Absinthe. 130 Proof/ 65% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Vapor Distilled Ginger Absinthe. 130 Proof/ 65% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Vapor Distilled Citrus Absinthe. 130 Proof/ 65% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Vapor Distilled Lavender Absinthe. 130 Proof/ 65% ABV.
• Copper & Kings Stray Cat Gin. 94 Proof/ 47% ABV

Markets

As of October 2015, the list of Copper & Kings 20 markets include: Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington D.C. and Wisconsin.