Tasting

A good Obstler from the Alb escarpment smells first of what it's made from. Swirl the glass and take a brief sniff, and you'll find apple skin, ripe pear, sometimes hay or nut. Sharp, solvent-like notes are a flaw, pointing to a poorly separated heads cut. The aroma should feel calm, not harsh.

Whether it's Obstler or pear brandy in the glass, the aroma gathers at the opening of a nosing glass or a small tulip glass. A thick-walled shot glass from the local pub is charming, but it traps the aromas more than it releases them. Too much alcohol in the glass can mask the fruit, so just a few centimetres of fill is enough.

It's drunk at room temperature, on the cool side rather than warm. A very cold brandy smells of nothing, a warm one smells mostly of alcohol. Drinking water beforehand and eating a piece of bread in between will sharpen the palate for what follows.

With pear brandy made from perry pears, it's worth comparing it against an Obstler from the same year. The pear brandy comes across leaner, the Obstler rounder and broader. The finish reveals whether the brandy was cleanly made: if a fine fruit note lingers, it succeeded; if it tastes short and rough, the fault often lies in the mash.

Tasting is done in small sips with pauses in between, not one after another in quick succession. Fruit brandy is strong, and anyone driving shouldn't drink it. A tasting also calls for a look at the label: if it says 'Obstler,' it's at least 85 percent apples and pears; if it says 'pear brandy,' it's pear and nothing else. With perry pear brandy, what stands out is just how closely the aroma is tied to the variety that fell from the standard trees back in October.