THERE was brandy waiting from a smartly dressed server when the elevator doors slid open. But I passed off on the proffered drink and requested for water instead. I had to catch my breath (after the torturous ride through the Friday afternoon traffic) and take in the elegance of the sprawling room and the magnificent view from beyond the glass walls. This was after all The Manila Hotel’s Presidential Suite which has been the favored setting for many momentous events. Like this one unfolding just when the sky was ablaze with the colors of the glorious Manila Bay sunset.
This was the launch of Carlos Light, the newest addition to the renowned Carlos I line of brandies, produced by the Osborne family of Spain. And there was much more. The occasion was also a celebration of the more than five years of partnership between the Osbornes and the family of Mr. Lucio Co, whose company Premier Wine and Spirits is the exclusive importer of the brandy in the Philippines. The latter had rolled out the red carpet for the Osbornes, whose first visit it was in Manila.
The Osborne family company, one of the oldest in the world and the second oldest in Spain is also one of most prestigious producers of wines and spirits in Spain. Founded in 1772, the company began in the sherry trade, owning sherry bodegas in Jerez de la Frontera before the business was consolidated and moved to its present headquarters in El Puerto de Santa Maria. Decades later, the business diversified into the production of Brandy de Jerez, regional wines, port, anise liqueur and Iberian pork products.
At a Q&A session held just as guests were arriving, there was more to learn about the Osborne group.
The “5J” Cinco Jotas brand of jamon Iberico is an Osborne enterprise. So is Nord’s, the gorgeous Galician gin, now riding high on the current gin trend. Are all the family members involved in the various subsidiaries? How has the company remained in family hands all these years? Are there good years and bad years for the jamon Iberico (because the quality of the acorns they feed on vary from year to year)? What is the story behind the black bull on the Osborne logo?
It would be a story worth retelling. How one balmy evening at The Manila Hotel, over excellent brandy and gin, I had a tête-à-tête with the owners of the Nord’s and Carlos I labels; had a rare glimpse of the owner of perhaps the top wine and spirits importation company in the Philippines—and got first crack at tasting the Carlos Light, available only in the Philippines.
Those were the highlights of the evening. But the stars of the splendid buffet were the jamon Iberico and the lechon. And that is how the Carlos Light shone—on the rocks with a wedge of orange—with the nutty, salty-sweet jamon Iberico and the crackly, fatty lechon with a smear of liver sauce. Take the Carlos Light as an ap’ritif, chilled and neat, or on the rocks or with your preferred mixer, was the suggestion.
But even at 25 percent ABV, the Carlos Light is not to be taken lightly. It is, after all, the progeny of an illustrious line of brandies and produced in the same exacting way, through the unique fractional blending protocols of the criaderas and solera system.
Try brandy with Coke, said Bill Derrenger, director general for Osborne. Also with the Carlos I Solera Gran Reserva. The Nord’s gin, have it with grapes, suggested Fernando Terry Osborne, chief executive officer of Bodegas Osborne. And keep the tonic water simple, Mr. Derrenger added. I’ll try that first thing tomorrow, I said. But moments later, the Nord’s gin and tonic with the grape halves materialized from nowhere, conjured up surely by the gentlemen who suggested it in the first place.
There was more talk about Brandy de Jerez and how the history of Carlos I dates back to 1889. Produced from the finest distillates from the Air’n grape, the brandy is aged in American oak barrels that had housed select sherries. Start with the Carlos Light, then have the Carlos I Solera Gran Reserva as dig’stif. Neat. On the rocks. Super chilled. With soda. With Coke. With orange wedges. Splashed on espresso. The Carlos Light or the latter? Why not both?
And that was how the night ended. In high spirits, and the many possibilities with brandy.