These are unique, powerful flavors which are a perfect ingredient for a special cocktail hour. The unique brandies or eaux de vie of Switzerland’s Valais Valley are given their full identity by the Maison Morand, founded in 1889, a distiller based in the town of Martigny. The house has been in the same family for four generations. The house’s Williamine Morand is made from the William pears of the Valais Valley while its Abricotine Morand, an exceptional product of the Valais Valley, is elaborated with abricots of the Luizet tree variety. The fruit orchards are located in the heart of the Swiss Alps. Both are AOPs or Appellation d’origine protégée, or protected Designation of Origin in English, a PDO. These are delicious, aromatic  additions to cocktails, offering unique savors in a pear brandy-based Mojito for example or the intense Abricotine in a special creation, the Cosmorand.

For the Williamine, the William pears of the Valais Valley are harvested when they are still green and are ripened in wooden crates. Twenty-six pounds (12l kilos) of pears are required to make 25 ounces (1 liter) of the brandy. When they are perfectly ripe, the fruits are carefully sorted, ground and fermented.The pear malt is then distilled and aged in the house’s storehouses for at least six months before being bottled. The house’s Abricotine undergoes the same craft and unique methods of fabrication and again twenty-six pounds (12l kilos) of Luizet apricots are required to make 25 ounces (1 liter) of the apricot brandy. Only the finest of fruits are used and they must be perfectly ripe, healthy and clean and measure a minimum of 1.4 inches (35cm) in diameter. The fruits are pressed into a homogenous purée to ensure the complete fermentation of the sugars. They are then distilled, once fermented, and bottled in the Valais by the house of Morand.

A dashing cocktail, the Williamine Mojito is made directly in the glass with just under one ounce (2cl) of sugar cane syrup, four quarters of lime, ten mint leaves and crushed ice. Add two ounces of Williamine Morand and mix with a spoon, top off with ginger ale. For the Cosmorand, pour into a shaker 1 ounce (3cl) of Abricotine Morand, one ounce (2cl) of triple sec, two slices of lime and 1.5 ounces (5cl) of cranberry juice. Shake and strain into a glass. Serve without ice and with an orange zest. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.morand.ch/en/home/