Review: Clear Creek Pear Brandy and Apple Brandy 2 Years Old (2024)

We’ve barely scratched the surface on Oregon-based Clear Creek Distillery’s many brandies and liqueurs, but today we’re taking a look at a pear of them. Ha, see what I did there? Clear Creek’s unaged Pear Brandy was actually the first spirit we tasted from the distillery way back in 2009, but we figured it was time for a revisit since the entire operation was acquired by Hood River Distillers in 2014 and relocated in 2017 to be closer to the fruit sources on which its many brandies and eaux-de-vie rely. Thoughts follow.

Clear Creek Pear Brandy (2024) – According to the label, 20 pounds of Pacific Northwest pears are used to make each bottle of this pear brandy, which has been distilled using “old world techniques” (presumably pot stills) and cut with glacier-fed spring water. The aroma is distinctly fruited but not oversweet with a buttery lacing of ethanol softening some of the higher tone notes of fresh-cut pear and green melon. The palate is silky and round with a medium weight. Again, things are pleasingly dry with notes of fresh fruit, and even a little pear skin. The finish is warm with floral accents and pear chips. No sticky sweet tinned pears in this Poire Williams. Still best served cold, but a cut above what we tasted all those years ago. 80 proof. A- / $49

Clear Creak Apple Brandy 2 Years Old – Made from Yellow Opal apples grown in the Yakima Valley and distilled on small-batch copper eau-de-vie stills, this brandy is then aged for two years in French Limousin oak casks and cut with glacier-fed spring water. The aroma is even more restrained on this brandy, with soft notes of vanilla taffy and green apple Jolly Ranchers in equal measure. It’s quite candied, and with only two years in the barrel, unsurprisingly devoid of developed spice or wood sugar that might add some complexity. The palate is not as saccharine as the nose suggests with a nice purity of golden apple fruit, at least initially. On the midpalate, subtle toffee and vanilla bean notes add some depth. It’s all rather thin though, dissolving on a short finish that is vaguely fruited and a touch too dry. 80 proof. B / $40

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