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Furnishings & DecorREGAL NEW SOUVEREIN POTSTILL TOPS OUDE MEESTER RANGE
Oude Meester has introduced a collectors’ edition potstill at the apex of the range, a regal and commanding blend of 18 year-old and older components, labeled as Souverein. Just
1 000 litres have been produced, expected to sell for around R815 a bottle from selected specialist outlets.
The new brandy carries the hallmark Oude Meester purity of taste, says brand manager Khosi Ngema, but is more imposing in profile than the much-awarded 12 Year Old Reserve or the popular and very accessible Demant. “We gave it the Dutch name for sovereign or ruler, given its stature at the pinnacle of the range. Souverein also brings to mind the sovereign gold coin that at one time, during the days of the British Empire, was minted in Pretoria. Now minted in the UK, it remains sought after by collectors worldwide.”
Souverein, created by Brink Liebenberg, who is fast building a reputation for his 
blending prowess learned under doyen Johan Venter, has been made in what he calls “a majestic, sumptuous style in line with its name” from rare stocks of long-matured Savalle potstills aged under cooler than usual local conditions. The lower temperatures, he says, make for slower ageing with a deep concentration of aromatics and flavour. “Temperature is an important factor in impacting on the character of the brandy as it ages, affecting the rate of molecular interplay between the distillate, the wood and the oxygen.
“This is an elegant potstill with great integrity of flavour but also a lively vivacity. It starts off with a beguiling softness but then its weight and gravitas command your fullest attention as you experience its pure expression of ginger, mocha and chocolate that meld with berry fruit preserve and vanilla that suffuse the mouth and saturate the palate in a very complete and satisfying way.”
Brink prefers his newest potstill with a block or two of ice made from filtered water. “It cools the brandy down to give a slow release of warmth that unfurls on the palate, opening up by degrees - but that’s just my personal preference. There are many others who would rather savour it in a brandy snifter.”
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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