St. Agnes Bartender's Cut Brandy (700ml)

St. Agnes' Bartender's Cut is a remarkable mouthful, and for the money, almost unbeatable in its segment. Developed by bartenders for bartenders, the base is a fruity five year old blended with x-wine, Tawny and Sherry cask matured spirit plus a good lick of XO brandy for richness, depth and length. That brings the average age to eight years old. Delivering many of the pleasures found in sherried single malts, it boasts powerful notes of fruit cake, spiced raisins, praline and brandy cream sauce in a caramel setting, backed up by a vivacious, cinnamon-laced finish that raises the bar. Double pot distilled from Colombard, Chardonnay and Doradillo grapes and bottled at a robust 44% (up from 37% in the brand's standard issue), mix it and the flavours remain vivid and undiminished. The sub $100 brandy category rarely gets better than this. Batch #5 tasted. 6000 bottles produced.

On the making of Bartender's Cut, Richard Angove from the St Agnes distillery comments: "It was just amazing to collaborate with 10 amazing bartenders on the project. We landed on a flavour profile which is intense and deep, rich, robust and perfect for mixing in cocktails. The support for the project from the trade has been amazing. In particular Seb Costello from Bad Frankie was an inspiration in leading the team in developing the flavour but also in advising on the final packaging – a true legend and champion of the Australian spirit Industry and great supporter of St Agnes. Our team really are looking forward to reigniting the early success we were having."