The superb and delicious taste of this fabulous award-winning brandy owes a lot to the 54 300-litre sherry barrels in which it has been matured, but also to the patience that has gone into its creation. The solera system at Oude Molen is a three-tier one, comprising 20 barrels in the bottom tier, 18 in the middle and 16 in the top tier. It took the brandy makers six years to fill the complete system, starting off with brandy aged for a minimum of three years in the top tier. Bottling only takes place out of the bottom tier using a maximum of 20% of the volume per barrel every 12 months. After bottling, the bottom tier is refilled from the middle tier and the middle from the top, a kind of enclosed and controlled stream of brandy flowing gently downhill. The top tier is then filled with selected brandy also aged for a minimum of three years. This means that for the next 100 years the consistency of the brandy will be the same. As slow as this process is, it yields a magnificent example of the brandy maker's art. Last year was the first time that Oude Molen released Solera Grand Reserve, and they must be doing something right as it won the Gold Medal as Best in its Class at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. It exhibits the trademark pale colour of these brandies, packed with plenty of ripe fruit and sherry nuances. Full flavours in the mouth give a whole array of characters of which sherry is the main feature, with strong supporting roles from dried apricot, raisin, spicy oak and some sweet floral notes. It is smooth and soft with a good grip, a kind of iron fist in a velvet glove, complex, but achieving great integration with a nice long finish in which sherry again features strongly.