Agnesi 1799 Brandy

Description

The grape-based brandies for Agnesi 1799 are sought, sourced, and blended from barrel stocks in California’s finest brandy distilleries.

Agnesi 1799 is a true taste of California soil, ambient yeast, naturally filtered water, and warm climate of the Golden State.

ABV 40%

Base Spirit - 100% Grape

Aroma

Layered cinnamon in front with a small amount of tobacco. Hints of vanilla and almonds give it a well-rounded profile of oak characters.

Taste

Overall high complexity with small hints of clove. Pleasant mouth coating in addition to some sweetness in the mid-palate. Followed by a silky smooth finish.

RECIPES

By Great Women Spirits Intermediate 3 min

Vieux Carré

Ingredients

¾ oz Dorothy Arzner Rye Whiskey
¾ oz Agnesi 1799 Brandy
¾ oz sweet vermouth
¼ oz of Benedictine Liqueur
Garnish: maraschino cherry or lemon twist

Directions

Add Dorothy Arzner Rye Whiskey, Agnesi 1799 Brandy, sweet vermouth, Benedictine liqueur, and bitters into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a cherry, a lemon twist, or both.

By Great Women Spirits Intermediate 3 min

Maria Smash

Ingredients

1 ½ oz Agnesi 1799 Brandy
½ oz simple syrup
4-6 oz soda water
1 brandied cherry
1 lemon wedge or wheel
Garnish: mint

Directions

Muddle fruit (brandied cherry and lemon) in glass. Add ice, simple syrup, mint, and Agnesi 1799 Brandy - stir until chilled. Top with soda water.

By Great Women Spirits Intermediate 3 min

Sidecar

Ingredients

1 ½ oz Agnesi 1799 Brandy
¾ oz orange liqueur
¾ oz lemon juice
Garnish: orange twist, sugar rim

Directions

Coat the rim of a coupe glass with sugar, if desired, and set aside. Add Agnesi 1799 Brandy, orange liqueur, and lemon juice to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. Strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Meet Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Italian. 16 May 1718 - 9 January 1799

Born into one of Milan’s wealthier families, Maria Gaetana Agnesi was a mathematician and polyglot whose life was shaped by her fervent religious beliefs and the many reforms championed by the Age of Enlightenment. She is the first woman to have written a comprehensive textbook in mathematics, Instituzioni analiteche ad uso della gioventù italiana(“Analytical Institutions/Foundations for the Use of Italian Youth”), a two-volume folio published in 1748 that took ten years to complete. The significance of her achievement was praised by the most prestigious scientific institutions and resulted in her appointment as the first female professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna, a position she accepted but never officially occupied.

Instituzioni analiteche was regarded as such a valuable resource worldwide that it was translated into several languages, however, in the English edition a misinterpretation occurred in Agnesi’s discussion of a cubic curve: the word la versiera(“versed sine curve”) was mistaken for l’avversiera (“witch”). This error in translation was never corrected and the curve has ever since been referred to as “The Witch of Agnesi,” which is supremely ironic given Agnesi’s spiritual devotion: following her father’s death in 1752, she abandoned her scholarly studies and dedicated her life to charity, the virtue that she believed most resembled “divine grace.” Agnesi is a near personification of the ideals expected of a highly educated, upper-class, Catholic woman living during the Enlightenment and Great Women Spirits is pleased to embody her sincerity of spirit with this namesake brandy.