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Furnishings & DecorBRINK LIEBENBERG INTRODUCES MAJESTIC SOUVEREIN POTSTILL
It took all of two weeks in the Western Cape for Brink Liebenberg, Oude Meester master distiller, to make brandy his drink of choice. “As a student at Pretoria University, I would have the occasional brandy but it certainly wasn’t a passion. Then I moved to the Cape and from the instant I was exposed to Cape potstills I became a convert. It was like entering an entirely new world of taste. Nothing else came close. Now I’ll have the occasional whisky but I’m an avowed brandy drinker.”
Liebenberg, who had studied mechanical engineering and then completed a B Com part-time while working up north as an engineer, wanted a lifestyle change and had always longed to live in the Boland. “I thought a move to Stellenbosch would balm the soul. I’d be able to use my skills in a beautiful environment, where I could be closer to nature. I had no idea then how the change in location would prompt a change in career.”
Appointed as an engineer in Distell’s spirits production department, he became increasingly interested in brandymaking and started attending tastings. “It seemed I had the palate for it. I could detect subtle nuances and was able to build up a memory bank of smells and flavours that proved useful.” Although his job as an engineer made quite different demands on him, he would seize every opportunity to observe brandy doyen Johan Venter at work. Soon he began working alongside him and in 2004 was appointed technical manager of Distell’s spirits division and then group general manager of this division.
Now his focus is on brandy, with Oude Meester his special domain. He is very proud of South Africa’s connoisseur brandies and believes they rank on a par with the world’s best cognacs and stand way ahead of brandies made elsewhere. Irrespective of style, they tend to be fruitier and lighter-bodied but also frequently more complex than many of their European equivalents, making them ideally suited to the South African climate.
He is very committed to maintaining the Oude Meester house style of integrity of flavour across the range. “Whether it’s an accessible potstill such as Demant; the intriguingly layered 12 Year Old Reserve or the more serious Souverein, there is no mistaking the Oude Meester purity of taste.”
His newest brandy, the Oude Meester Souverein, is a luxury, collectors’ edition blend of Savalle-potstilled 
components, 18 years and older. Just 1 000 litres have been blended for the debut bottling. “We were extremely fortunate in having access to some very special, rare brandies, aged under cooler than usual conditions, making for slower maturation with deep, rich characters. Common to all these components was a vivacity of flavour and remarkable smoothness”.
Souverein has been aged exclusively in small oak barrels to impart a lively wood spice dimension. “This is a majestic, sumptuous and complex brandy with multi-faceted flavours that suffuse the mouth and saturate the palate in a very complete and satisfying way. It starts off with a beguiling softness but then its weight and gravitas command your fullest attention as you experience its layers of ginger, mocha and chocolate that meld with berry fruit preserve and vanilla.”
Brink prefers to drink his Souverein potstill with a block or two of ice made from filtered water. “It cools the brandy down to give a slow release of warmth, unfurling on the palate, opening up by degrees.”
A husband and father of two young sons, he enjoys camping with his family near the ocean or along the riverside, leaving the great, gleaming copper potstills, pipettes and barrels for time out. Sometimes he snorkels or dives to take himself out of his comfort zone, always testing himself.
“It’s the same making brandy. You have to keep on pushing yourself. You want every blend to be an improvement on its predecessor.”
As good as his word, the Oude Meester 12 Year Old Reserve, made under his direction, scored the highest rating in its category and gained a gold medal on the 2008 International Wine & Spirit Competition.
DATE MAY 19, 2009
ISSUED BY DE KOCK COMMUNICATIONS (DKC)
FOR OUDE MEESTER SOUVEREIN
QUERIES BRINK LIEBENBERG (021) 809 7000
KHOSI NGEMA, OUDE MEESTER BRAND MANAGER (021) 809 7000 OR 083 399 8072
TESSA DE KOCK/MARLISE POTGIETER, DKC (021) 422 2690
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